Palace backs dismantling of all Laguna Lake fishers

Malacañang on Monday urged the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to study the possibility of dismantling all fishpens and cages in Laguna Lake to allow the lake to recover.

“We stand by the decision of the LLDA,” said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

“If LLDA has merely limited the number of fishpens, maybe they should study if they should completely remove all fishpens there in Laguna Lake,” he said.

Roque was referring to LLDA’s Resolution No. 540, adopting a revised fishery zoning and management plan in Laguna Lake, including a limited area for fishpens.

Roque made the remarks amid the appeal of some “bangus” fishpen operators on the LLDA’s restrictions on fishpens in Laguna Lake, which is bounded by Rizal and Laguna provinces.

On Monday, the Bangus Industry Stakeholders and Dealers Alliance published in newspapers a letter to President Duterte, seeking his help in addressing supply shortage and rising prices of bangus.

Sharp decline

The group claimed that the LLDA’s restrictions disrupted the growth of bangus, or milkfish, resulting in a 78.8 percent decline in production.

In 2016, the President ordered the dismantling of big fishpens and cages in Laguna Lake, stressing that poorer fishermen should be given priority in using the lake.

He also announced that he wanted to convert the lake into an ecotourism zone and stop encroachment in watersheds, land conversion and pollution in the lake.