375 tons of bangus lost in Taal Lake fish kill

BATANGAS CITY – At least 375 tons of bangus (milkfish) valued at P33 million were lost in a fish kill that struck Taal Lake on Friday, affecting mainly the fish cages along the Talisay town side of the lake, fisheries officials here said Saturday.

Some fish cages in the Laurel, Agoncillo, and San Nicolas side of the lake were also affected but field personnel were still evaluating the losses in these sites, said Nenita Kawit, the aquaculturist of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources here.

The abrupt changes in weather and low levels of dissolved oxygen in the lake recorded since Thursday caused the fish kill, said Rosario Del Mundo, BFAR fisheries officer.

To salvage what they could, Del Mundo said, fish cage owners had to go on an emergency harvest of bangus and other fish outside the cages, such as “biya” (goby), and crabs.

“When the level of dissolved oxygen is low and it rains, the fishes cannot get enough air so they die,” she said in Filipino.

She said water tests were also being conducted.

Talisay was hardest hit of the lakeshore towns, with the price of fish falling so low that fish farm owners could not recoup their investments, she added.

Del Mundo said the un-harvested fish might still recover if the weather improved Saturday as they would have enough oxygen.

“But if it rains, the fish… will ultimately die and the fish yet to be harvested in the cages would be affected,” she said.

She added the dead fish recovered from the lake had been buried.

More than half of the Taal Lake is dotted with around 6,000 fish cages set up by aqua farmers growing milkfish.