18 October 2005
BFAR: Dagupan fishkill blamed on over-stocking of fish in pens
The National Integrated Fisheries Technology Research Development Center here said that the latest fishkill in Dagupan City could have been due to over-stocking of fish in pens in anticipation of the big demand during the Christmas season.
NIFTDC Chief Westly Rosario noted that there were too many fish competing for the limited dissolved oxygen in the water, inevitably resulting in the new fishkill as what also happened in Bolinao, another fish producing area of Pangasinan, last week.
The pen owners, seeking to recover investments in so short a time, overstocked their fishpens in anticipation of bigger profits only to pay a high price for their action when the fishkill came, pulling down the price of fish to a low of P30 per kilo last Wednesday.
Rosario observed that most of the fish that had to be quickly harvested from the pens were already of marketable sizes, indicating that the fish farmers withheld releasing their products to the market hoping that prices will still escalate.
He said the overstocking of fish in every pen was also the observation of a Norwegian team, aided by their local counterparts, that are studying the aquaculture industry in Dagupan, Bolinao and various other pilot areas in the country.
The team observed that the rivers of Dagupan are still teeming with fish pens and went on to suggest that the city government should provide for wider navigational lanes between pens, said Rosario.
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina however took a different view, attributing the fishkill to the sudden downpour Tuesday night that abruptly changed the temperature of the water from mild to cool as she dismissed reports that the pens were over-stocked.
Rosario said the Norwegian team, using sophisticated equipment in their study of the aquaculture industry, is yet to simultaneously release their recommendation to stakeholders and local government units in various pilot area sometime next year.
Rosario said that the degrading quality of the water in the fish producing areas of Dagupan at this time also contributed to the fishkill.
Up to P1.8 million worth of fish was believed to have been wiped out by the newest fishkill that hit Dagupan, according to the City Agriculture Office.
NIFTDC Chief Westly Rosario noted that there were too many fish competing for the limited dissolved oxygen in the water, inevitably resulting in the new fishkill as what also happened in Bolinao, another fish producing area of Pangasinan, last week.
The pen owners, seeking to recover investments in so short a time, overstocked their fishpens in anticipation of bigger profits only to pay a high price for their action when the fishkill came, pulling down the price of fish to a low of P30 per kilo last Wednesday.
Rosario observed that most of the fish that had to be quickly harvested from the pens were already of marketable sizes, indicating that the fish farmers withheld releasing their products to the market hoping that prices will still escalate.
He said the overstocking of fish in every pen was also the observation of a Norwegian team, aided by their local counterparts, that are studying the aquaculture industry in Dagupan, Bolinao and various other pilot areas in the country.
The team observed that the rivers of Dagupan are still teeming with fish pens and went on to suggest that the city government should provide for wider navigational lanes between pens, said Rosario.
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina however took a different view, attributing the fishkill to the sudden downpour Tuesday night that abruptly changed the temperature of the water from mild to cool as she dismissed reports that the pens were over-stocked.
Rosario said the Norwegian team, using sophisticated equipment in their study of the aquaculture industry, is yet to simultaneously release their recommendation to stakeholders and local government units in various pilot area sometime next year.
Rosario said that the degrading quality of the water in the fish producing areas of Dagupan at this time also contributed to the fishkill.
Up to P1.8 million worth of fish was believed to have been wiped out by the newest fishkill that hit Dagupan, according to the City Agriculture Office.
