Malolos City—Fishermen, fish traders, fishpen and fishpond operators in Laguna Lake are asking President Rodrigo Duterte to step in to address the shortage of locally produced bangus or milkfish and the resulting high prices.
“Although we want to help the President address this crisis, our hands are tied by the mismanagement of the Laguna Lake Development Authority,” the Fishing Industry Stakeholders and Distributors Alliance said in Filipino.
Fishponds in Bulacan were losing bangus because they were flooded by monsoon rains, the same way they were in Dagupan, said Michael Ramos, barangay captain in Bulakan, Bulacan.
The group said the crisis can be traced to the ill-advised disruption of the breeding and spawning of locally produced fish in Laguna, particularly bangus, tilapia, and bighead carp, coupled with the recent destruction caused by the monsoon and typhoons ‘‘Josie’’ and ‘‘Karding.’’
Fisda said the LLDA is doing fine in implementing environmental and ecological policies but lacks foresight and expertise in managing the fishing industry in the lake that abounds with phytoplankton, which are the natural food source of all fish species thriving in the waters of Laguna de Bay.
“The huge reduction in the volume of bangus comes from Laguna,” said Mel dela Merced, representing fish brokers in Navotas Fish Port and the Cardona-Binangonan fish ports. “And this is what the poor buy because it is cheaper than the bangus from Pangasinan and Bulacan.”
The sudden reduction of fishpen structures from the allowable 50-hectare area of operation that was reduced to a maximum of 25 hectares without any plan on how to augment the loss of sizeable percentage of fish production is detrimental to the supply of fresh water bangus, the group said.
Data from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resorces show the production of fish from the lake dropped by almost 78 percent in mid-2018.
Fisda also opposed the LLDA’s plan to implement a total relocation of all fishpens to comply with its 2018 Zone Management Guidelines which the group said will completely disrupt the operation of aquaculture in the lake for two to three years. This move will be a disaster to the industry as the new zone management guidelines are not conducive to aquaculture the group said.
The alliance asked Duterte to recommend a moratorium on the guidelines’ implementation pending further studies and consultations with all stakeholders in the fishing industry.
The group also supported a nationwide boycott of imported galunggong or round scad.
Also on Sunday, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said manufacturers of basic commodities will not jack up prices.
On Saturday, the department released suggested retail prices for basic and prime commodities as of Aug. 6.
“The manufacturers have been cooperating by not raising prices,” Lopez said in Filipino on radio dzBB.
He added that the department is monitoring prices closely.