Gov’t eyes stricter measures vs sewage, piggeries around Taal Lake

MANILA, Philippines–Government agencies monitoring the water quality of Taal Lake in Batangas are eyeing stricter measures against dumping of solid wastes, and discharge of sewage and waste water from giant real estate developments, including backyard and commercial piggery farms in the area.

Laudemir Salac, chief of the Batangas Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, said during the recent Taal Lake Fishery Stakeholders’ Forum that Task Force Taal Lake has issued guidelines for backyard and commercial piggery farms and other industries in communities around the lake to control water pollution which allegedly caused last year’s fish kill.

Chaired by Batangas Provincial Administrator Victor Reyes, the task force identified solid wastes discharged from towns and barangays through the river system as one of the major causes of water pollution in Taal Lake.

Salac said the task force has scheduled dialogues with real estate developers and owners and operators of backyard and commercial pig farms in Batangas to help mitigate pollution.

Earlier, some sectors blamed the uncontrolled proliferation of fish cages in Taal Lake as among the causes of deteriorating water quality.

Denying that they were the cause of last year’s Taal fish kill, tilapia fish cage owners belonging to the Taal Lake Aquaculture Alliance, Inc. (TLAAI) said they are working closely with concerned government agencies and local government units to police their ranks and adopt responsible fish farming methods.

TLLAI members said the dead fish last year did not come from their cages in Talisay but from foreign-owned fish cages that do not observe responsible aquaculture.

TLAAI president Rodrigo Cacao said their members cooperated in the dismantling of illegally operated fish cages and volunteered to strictly observe a sustainable aquaculture program.

Salac reported during the forum that guidelines drawn up by the Protected Area Management Board and Task Force Taal Lake to protect the lake from environmental destruction and preserve its ecosystem are being observed and implemented.

These include downsizing of the number of fish cage structures, creation of a quick reaction team (QRT) from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Task Force Taal Lake, Philippine National Police and Coast Guard to assess fish kill incidents and actions to be taken, and conduct of water quality sampling by BFAR.

He also reported that to date, the task force has dismantled 8,116 illegal fish structures. The remaining 5,883 fish cages are legitimate fish cages.

Salac said fish cages have been regulated to less than 6,000 as stipulated in the guidelines in compliance with the environmental limit determined by scientific studies.

BFAR Director Atty. Asis Perez revealed that fish kill incidents occur from the months of April to June before the onset of the rainy season.

“These naturally occurring phenomena are usually affected by temperature changes especially in the warm months of April to June and during the rainy months, when typhoons occur,” Perez said.