Bangus, tilapia from Taal Lake now safe to eat, say fisheries officials

BATANGAS City, Philippines–Fish from Taal Lake are now safe to eat, according to officials handling the lake’s safety.

The lake’s water was considered safe after the dissolved oxygen (DO) level at the lake stabilized and remained well within the limit set by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), said Paz Manalang, officer in charge of the bureau in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon).

The latest test conducted by BFAR showed that the DO level in Barangay (village) Sampaloc in Talisay town, the area most affected by the fishkill, was 4.5 parts per million (ppm), which was way below the allowable level of 6 ppm, said Manalang on Saturday.

Similar tests conducted in other parts of the lake also showed positive results, as follows: Barangay Buso, Laurel – 3.8 ppm; and Barangay Banaga, Agoncillo – 4.9 ppm.

Residents and officials of areas hit by the fishkill said that there were no reports of anyone who has gotten ill for consuming fish recently harvested from the lake, said Manalang.

Also, officials and personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources who had just held a conference in this city on Friday ate bangus (milkfish) and tilapia harvested from the lake to show that they were safe for human consumption, said Laudemir Salac, superintendent for Protected Area Management Bureau (PAMB) in the province and vice chairman for Task Force Taal Lake.

Salac saw no need to embark on a massive information drive because residents were already aware of the fact that the fishkill was over.

Oliver Morales, 39, a fish-cage caretaker and a resident of Barangay Quiling, Talisay, Batangas said that his sales of tilapia and bangus increased since the officials of DENR and other government officials appeared on local television on Friday, eating local fish.

Before the fishkill, he sold 50 kilos in a day but this went down to 15 to 20 kilos a day after the fishkill.

He said he was happy that he was able to deliver 30 kilos of bangus and tilapia in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on Saturday.

His profit for selling 30 kilos was P800. He used to earn P1,500 from 50 kilos but said he was not complaining as things were improving.

He said that milkfish and tilapia have become available in the Talisay market again, although some consumers were still scared to buy them.

Salac and Morales said that even the hibay fish are safe to eat since the fish die due to lack of oxygen in the water and not of sickness or contamination.

Jenny Aguilera, a staff of the Batangas government information office, said that as of Friday, 281 illegal fish cages had been dismantled in a three-day operation; 117 in Talisay; 29 in Laurel; 69 in Agoncillo; and 66 in San Nicolas.

Salac said that the dismantling of illegal fish cages, which led to a corresponding decrease in organic matter in the lake water, contributed to the improvement of the oxygen level in the lake.