The risk of fish kills can be reduced, if not totally prevented, if fish cage operators adhere to good aquaculture practices within Taal Lake, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said Monday.
The agency made the statement even as President Rodrigo Duterte ordered concerned government agencies to ease the effects of the fish kill in the lake, Malacañang said.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte was worried about the crisis in the fish cage industry in Taal Lake.
“The President has expressed concern about the fish kill in Taal,” Panelo said.
“The President has directed the appropriate government offices to closely monitor the situation, particularly the water quality in Taal Lake.
“He also required the officials concerned to undertake measures to mitigate the impact of the natural phenomenon.”
The BFAR vowed to continue conducting water quality monitoring and to ensure that fish cage operators are provided with the necessary technical assistance.
A regular monitoring of the water quality in the lake and its dissolved oxygen level will be conducted, the agency said.
On May 29, the depleted level of dissolved oxygen in the waters of Buso-buso and Gulod in Laurel and in Bañaga village in Agoncillo, Batangas, resulted in a fish kill.
The total allowable number of fish cages in Taal Lake is 6,000, but of this only 121 units or 2 percent were affected by the fish kill.
“This resulted in over 600 metric tons of losses in milkfish and tilapia stocks amounting to a total of P43.13 million,” the agency statement said.
The agency then advised fish cage operators to closely watch their stocks after it noticed a drop in the dissolved oxygen level.
“Fish cage operators in the areas where the dissolved oxygen level is down were promptly advised to start the emergency harvesting of bangus and tilapia and use oxygen pumps or aerators as part of mitigating measures,” the agency said.
While heavy rain, sudden change of wind direction and intense heat caused the fish kill, the DA-BFAR observed that the overstocking of fish cages in the areas affected also contributed to the depletion of dissolved oxygen in the lake.