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By Leonardo Micua, 7th October 2017;

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has denied the occurrence of a fish kill in Sual Bay here early this week, saying it was the result of overstocking of Milkfish (Chanos chanos) fingerlings by operators.

BFAR Region 1 (Ilocos) Director Nestor Domenden said Friday two operators overstocked their cages, each one measuring 85 square meters, with 85,000 fingerlings, although it can only accommodate 45,000.

There are estimated 750 fish cages in the Sual Bay area, Domenden said.

Up to 30 metric tons of fish reportedly died from this episode, which was the result of the thinning of dissolved oxygen needed by the fish in the water, the BFAR official said.

Fish kill is commonly caused by pollution or by other contaminants.

Domenden said when an operator overstocks his cage twice the allowable number, some of the fish would naturally die as they compete for the only available dissolved oxygen in the water.

It was fortunate that the affected operators were able to harvest half of their fish before the incident, he said.

Domenden called on the local government of Sual, Pangasinan to strictly monitor the operations of fish cages to avoid a repeat of overstocking of fingerlings.

He noted that Sual had a standing municipal ordinance recommending the proper stocking of fish cages, yet it was disregarded by the two affected operators.

According to a report, the fish cages of Sual, located in a mariculture area designated by BFAR, are owned by local and foreign corporations.

All of these have a combined production of some 300,000 metric tons of fish yearly, being sold in North and Central Luzon and Manila.

Sual Mayor Roberto Arcinue has confirmed the findings of BFAR that no fish kill happened in his town.

Photo: Julie Anne Jimena Celzo Facebook

Philippines: BFAR says heavy deposit of organic matters causing recurring fishkills in Pangasinan 25th May 2016;

Organic matters that had accumulated for years along the Caquipotan Channel, a body of water between the towns of Bolinao and Anda in Pangasinan, had made the area very susceptible always to fishkills, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said.

Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR's National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center (NIFTDC) based in Dagupan City, said the heavy deposit of organic matters in the bottom of the water was spawned by unsustainable aquaculture activities in the area for years.

At one area of the channel, the deposit of organic matter is measured at 32 centimeters thick and at another, especially the section from the steel bridge to Bolinao, it is more than one meter deep, Rosario said.

The Caquipotan Channel is the location of hundreds of floating fish cages and fish pens, all raising Milkfish (Chanos chanos) that need commercial fish for them to grow.

The commercial feeds unconsumed by the fish as well as the droppings of the fish in captivity are deposited in the bottom of the water to rot, causing pollution.

To date, the flushing out of water from north to south takes for sometime because of the heavy deposit of organic matters that are now decaying, Rosarfio said.

Rosario said that the biggest fishkill ever registered in the area happened in 2002, an incident which even caught world attention, prompting the Norway government to come to the aid of the Philippines by extending modern equipment and technical personnel who transferred improved fish farming technologies from their country to local technicians.

The equipment extended by Norway are now being used to help monitor water pollution in the aquaculture areas of Pangasinan as well as in other parts of the country, said Rosario.

He said following the advice of aquaculture experts after the 2002 record fishkill, the number of fish structures along the Caquipotan Channel was reduced a little bit but not substantially.

That was why in subsequent fishkills such as the one that happened last May 18, 19, 20 this year, aggravated by the occurrence of neap tide, fish losses were not as big anymore as the one registered in 2002.

Nevertheless, Rosario believes that the threat of further fishkill along the Caquipotan Channel will continue if fish farmers will not heed his call for moratorium of aquaculture activities there as well as the removal of heavy organic matter deposits.

Rosario maintained that because of years of overused, the Caquipotan Channel cannot accommodate anymore extensive aquaculture activities and must be allowed to rest for a while.

He repeated his earlier suggestion for the transfer of the fish cages in any feasible area in the Lingayen Gulf or in mid sea which is being done successfully in Norway that is now one of the biggest exporters of Salmon (Salmo salar).

Rosario also suggested that oyster props, beds and sticks be installed to replace fish cages along the Caquipotan Channel as Oysters (F. Ostreidae) and Mussels (F. Mytilidae), which have high commercial value both locally and abroad, can help clean the channel of organic matters.

Photo: Julie Anne Jimena Celzo Facebook

Philippines: Massive fishkill breaks out anew in Western Pangasinan By Leonardo Micua, 25th May 2016;

Millions of pesos worth of Milkfish (Chanos chanos) died in a massive fishkill that broke out anew along the Caquipotan Channel in Bolinao and Anda towns over the weekend during the occurrence of neap tide when the dissolved oxygen in the water went to as low as 2 parts per million (ppm).

This was bared by fishery officials of both towns who confirmed that most of the fish that died floated in fish cages and had to be gathered and brought to shore to be buried in holes so that they will not cause foul odor.

A report stated that many fish farmers had to undertake forced harvesting though their fish are not yet of marketable sizes in a bid to at least minimize their losses.

The neap tide occurred at a time when it was already raining in the coastal areas of Pangasinan, which changed the temperature of the water from hot to cold.

The Caquipotan channel, a body of water separating the towns of Bolinao and Anda, is the location of about a hundred fish pens owned by big businessmen and officials.

Owners of these fish pens have not learned their lesson as they continue to overstock their pens and therefore make these prone to fishkill as there is hardly any space left in the water anymore for the fish to breathe, officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said.

The report further stated that because of forced harvesting in the Milkfish-producing areas of Bolinao and Anda, the price of Milkfish in the Dagupan Fish Market went down a bit by P5 to P10, from P110 per kilo the previous week to P95 to P100 today.

Corollary to this, authorities in Dagupan alerted market inspectors to be vigilant over Milkfish affected by fishkill being mixed with fresh fish that are brought in by delivery trucks coming from western Pangasinan.

No fishkill was noted yet in Dagupan and in Sual town due to better aquaculture practices by their fish farmers even during the occurrence of neap tide.

Photo: Julie Anne Jimena Celzo Facebook

Philippines: Fish kills reported in Pangasinan and Negros Occidental; bangus prices fall By John Ted Cordero, 25th May 2016;

Changes in weather pattern have caused fish kills in two municipalities of Pangasinan.

According to a report on News To Go on Wednesday, the fish kills occurred in the municipalities of Anda and Bolinao.

Fish trade in two barangays of Bolinao and Anda were affected by the said fish kill.

Thirty percent of bangus (Milkfish) (Chanos chanos) have died causing the prices to fall at P10 per kilo, the report said.

The municipal agriculturist explained that the fish kills were caused by changing weather.

He added the weather is very hot during morning but rain will fall suddenly in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, a fish kill was also reported in Binalbagan River in the municipality of Isabela, Negros Occidental.

According to the Municipal Agriculture Office of Isabela, various fishes like Tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) and haluan (Common Snakehead) (Channa striata) died after rainfall.

Authorities are looking into sulfur contamination as the cause of the fish kill, the report said.

Ashes and pyroclastic materials from Mt. Kanloan were possibly washed through Binalbagan River.

Authorities advised residents not to eat the dead fishes as these might poison them.

They also took mud and water samples from the river to find out the real cause of the fish kill.

Photos of a fishkill that took place along the coast of Bolinao, Pangasinan on 22nd May. Some of the locations affected include Dewey (on the island of Tagaporo), Pilar and Salud (on Santiago Island), which are barangays in Bolinao, while others, such as Awag (on Cabarruyan Island) and Siapar (on Siapar Island), are barangays in Anda, another municipality in Pangasinan. The victims are Milkfish (Chanos chanos), a species that is raised in fish farms throughout much of the Philippines.

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, 2nd February 2016

This photo of the carcass of a Milkfish was shared by Yap Xinli. I also came across it later that same day and took some photos of my own.

The location of this dead fish, on one of the wooden bridges within Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, suggests that it had been picked up and then dropped by another animal, possibly a Bird of Prey or a Feral Dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

Given that Milkfish are raised in some of the fish farms in the waters of the western Straits of Johor, it is difficult to determine whether the Milkfishes found in these waters are of captive or wild origin.

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