LLDA demolishes large fish pen owned by ‘delinquent’ operator

LLDA general manager Nereus Acosta. FILE PHOTO

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines — The Laguna Lake Development Authority on Wednesday demolished a large fish pen as part of its over-all drive to improve the carrying capacity of the country’s largest fresh-water lake.

LLDA general manager Nereus Acosta, in a phone interview, said a cease-and-desist order had been served earlier on Ramjill Corp., a Filipino-owned company that operated the 30-hectare fish pen.

The fish pen, said to be one of the largest on the lake and located within the municipal jurisdiction of Binangonan, Rizal, had been “delinquent” in paying the fees required by the government for over ten years.

“We have been demolishing illegal and abandoned fish pens and smaller structures but this one’s one the largest structure,” Acosta said.

He said the LLDA issued the company a notice last February directing it to “self-demolish” the fish pen but it failed to do so.

The pen was demolished Wednesday morning, with an undetermined amount of fish simply loose in the water, said LLDA information officer Maureen Tolentino.

The fisheries law allows only ten percent or about 9,000 hectares of  the 100,000-hectare Laguna de Bay for the fish pens.

But the lake agency said the structures owned by private companies and individuals were  now occupying about 14,000-15,000 hectares of the lake, diminishing the lake’s natural carrying capacity.

“It’s now like a whole village of people fitted in one room. That’s how congested the lake is now. It really needs breathing space,” said Acosta, who proceeded to Sta. Ana, Manila in the afternoon to seal the pipeline that recently caused an oil spill in the Pasig River.

The river is connected to the lake, often erroneously referred to as Laguna Lake, which produces 60 percent of the marine products, specifically milkfish, for Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon collectively known as Calabarzon.