Fishkill damage placed at P32 M

BY JERRY PADILLA

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – The Region 1 office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic resources bared milkfish worth some P32 million was lost due to massive fishkill in Anda and Bolinao towns, Pangasinan last week.

Nestor Domenden, BFAR regional director, based the P32-million estimate on the 1,151 metric tons of bangus that floated dead due to low oxygen level in fishcage water.

Domenden said 25 fish cages and eight fish pens were affected by the fishkill.

The fishkill was also caused by heavy fish stocking and accumulated deposits of unconsumed fish feeds in the water.

“Although there are other estimates of losses coming out, the damage is much lower if compared to the fishkill in 2002, and this recent incident had been handled properly,” Domenden said.

“Because they (operators and caretakers) were able to undergo training on proper handling of fishkill, some of the bangus that were alive were sold in the market