Fishkill grips Anda, Bolinao in P’sinan

By Liezle BasaInigo

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan – A massive fishkill was reported in the municipalities of Bolinao and Anda and affected the price of milk fish in the market.

The sudden harvest saw the market price of milkfish plunge from P110 per kilo to as low as P90 per kilo as of Tuesday.

Local fisheries officials said millions of pesos worth of milkfish were lost after fishkills were reported along the Caquipotan Channel in Bolinao and Anda towns over the weekend.

The massive fishkills were attributed to the low level of dissolved oxygen in the water.

A large volume of fish which were found dead and floating  in fish cages were hauled to shore to be buried and avoid further contaminating the two towns’ coastal waters.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources  said that many of the fish pens erected at Caquipotan Channel, which separates the towns of Anda and Bolinao, were overstocked with fingerlings, thereby rapidly depleting oxygen levels in the water.