Fishermen bear brunt of fishkill as fish prices fall to P2/kg

LUCENA CITY—Fishermen are bearing the brunt of the effects of a fishkill in Taal Lake that destroyed at least P190 million worth of tilapia and bangus, and brought prices of other fish from the lake plummeting to as low as P2 per kilogram.

The militant fishermen’s group Pambansang Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said fishermen from Taal are now complaining that prices of fish, even those not involved in the fishkill, have gone down from P90 per kg to P2 per kg.

Gerry Albert Corpuz, Pamalakaya spokesperson, said fishermen are unable to sell their catch, and often just feed them to their families.

He said the fishermen’s woes were brought to the attention of a fact-finding team that went to Talisay, Batangas, one of the towns hit hardest by the fishkill, on June 7 to determine the socioeconomic impact of the fishkill.

In the coastal village of Sampaloc, bangus and tilapia sell for as low as P10 per kg, said Corpuz. “People are still afraid to eat fish,” he said.

He said the government, instead of addressing the problems of fishermen, helped sow confusion and hysteria following the fishkill. Promises of financial aid, he said, have not been fulfilled.

Pamalakaya urged the provincial government of Batangas to immediately release its P90 million calamity funds to help fishermen suffering from the effects of the fishkill.

Batangas Vice Gov. Jose Antonio Leviste II, however, said the provincial government could not allot the entire P90 million for the fishermen since it was preparing for other disasters like typhoons and the eruption of Taal Volcano.