GreenPeace Philippines, a group that advocates for environment conservation, slammed Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez’s action of stocking 20,000 tilapia fingerlings (St. Peter’s fish) in the protected Lake Danao, a move that may kill the province’s local fish industry.
In an interview, Greenpeace Southeast Asia regional oceans research coordinator Ephraim Batungbacal warned that culturing of tilapia (St. Peter’s fish) in the lake may cause pollution in the water as the said species are known for eating other fishes.
“With the political election season coming soon, we might see more of this photo-ops made without considering the consequences,” Batungbacal said.
He asked Gomez and the local government of Ormoc if such action has a Management Plan in Lake Danao and if there was a function Protected Areas Management Board to enforce the rules.
On Thursday morning, the Ormoc local government boasted in its Facebook page its plan to release 20,000 tilapia fingerlings in Lake Danao.
The post contained actor-turned politician’s photo seen helping the residents in releasing tilapia fingerlings.
“20,000 tilapia fingerlings were released this morning [Thursday] by Mayor Richard Gomez at Barangay Lake Danao,” it said.
The post received criticism from netizens and even from its constituents.
The Local Government of Ormoc however, did not respond to Manila Standard queries but revised its statement in its page explaining that Lake Danao has been “seeded time and time again in the past.”
“This is not the first time that Lake Danao was seeded with Tilapia. However, it is the first time that said activity was posted on Facebook,” the LGU of Ormoc explained.
“As far as spoken history of the locals here are concerned, tilapia was introduced to the lake around 40 years ago. The young people here can recall that tilapia has been in the lake since they were born,” it said.
The LGU also explained that the seeding was done to provide food to the residents.
“The seeding was done to help provide food to residents nearby who were victims of earthquake,” it justified.
It also admitted that the lake is within a protected area supervised by the Protected Areas Management Board but the latter did not object Gomez’ project.
“Yes, the lake is within a protected area supervised by PAMB. There is also no record of PAMB objecting to the regular restocking of Tilapia in the lake,” it said.
Batungbacal slammed the LGU’s explanation and pointed out that if the OAMB approved Gomez’ project, the impact of this should have been discussed.
“If there is a resolution approved by the Protected Areas Management Board allowing dispersal of tilapia fingerlings then the impact of the dispersal should have been ascertained in the first place. If culturing of tilapia in the lake is being considered, pollution is likely to occur,” he said.
Tilapias, he said, are known to eat other fishes.
He cited what happened to Laguna lake where tilapia was introduced which “resulted in a substantial reduction of the local fish population”.
A protected area is usually declared to maintain its biodiversity and limit human intervention.
The protected areas is governed by the PAMB which decides on rules aligned with conservation objectives.
The LGU of Ormoc has already deleted its post and did not respond to queries.