Zamboanga scientists probe massive kill of fishpond products

Almost empty containers of prawns are on display at the different buying stations in Vitali that is hardly hit by ‘white spot virus’ causing massive kill of prawns, shrimps, crabs and milkfish in Vitali district for the past three months now.

MANILA, Philippines—Scientists from the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) were investigating a massive kill of prawns, shrimps, crabs and milkfish in Zamboanga.

This came after the City Council approved a resolution requesting the Office of the City Mayor to immediately help check on the reported losses incurred by Vitali businessmen on the attack of the so-called “white spot virus” on fishpond products.

City Councilor Vincent Paul Elago, reacting to Discovery Zamboanga’s expose on the Vitali mass kill of fishpond products, sponsored the resolution during last Monday’s advance City Council session.

“I sponsored a resolution which was unanimously approved during the advance City Council session today (Monday) urgently requesting the city mayor to demand from BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) and DA (Department of Agriculture) to immediately with no further delay act on the problem and to report their actions relative to the deadly white spot virus affecting the fishponds in Vitali before this can spread to other areas,” Elago said in his reaction to DZ’s expose on Facebook and local newspapers.

“The people of Vitali should be thankful to you,” Elago told Discovery Zamboanga, a local group of development communicators, who discovered the problem when they visited Vitali last weekend.

Over 100 businessmen of Vitali have been suffering huge losses of investments for over three months now and they blamed BFAR and the agriculture department for not attending immediately to their problem.

BFAR instead moved its inspection of the Vitali problem to September 21 instead of September 6 as originally scheduled, said Edward Falcasantos, one of the operators of Vitali fishponds.

Discovery Zamboanga ,headed by its executive director Prof. Jose Maria Bue, chanced upon the problem as they were in Vitali looking for tourism and tourism potentials. Fatima Malieha Sangkula