A new effort to nurse Laguna Lake back to health

AT 911 hectares, Laguna Lake is the country’s biggest freshwater body of water. It also forms part of the vast waterway system — along with the Pasig River and Manila Bay — that has been key to the development of Metro Manila.

The lake hosts fishing and aquaculture industries that supply more than 40 percent of Metro Manila’s fish needs. That’s equivalent to 90,000 tons of fish annually.

Still, the lake’s potential as a major fish source has not been fully realized.

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stressed the need to raise Laguna Lake’s fish output as the metropolis’ population and sprawl continue to grow.

“Our aim is to produce more food at lower prices. For example, bring back bangus prices to P50 to P70 per kilogram. Maximizing the aquaculture potential of Laguna Lake is essential to achieving that goal. If we can add more capacity, then let’s do it,” Laurel said.

To boost fish production, the government must also deal with watershed degradation, pollution, a festering row between fishermen and fish farmers, and other problems that have frustrated previous efforts to rehabilitate Laguna Lake.

In 1969, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) was created to oversee the preservation, development, and sustainability of the lake and its tributaries.

Among the LLDA’s first tasks was to create a zoning plan to assign separate areas for small fishermen and commercial fish farms. But as demand for the lake’s fish produce grew, fish farming began to edge out community fishers.

Last year, the Commission on Audit red-flagged the LLDA for allowing private aquaculture companies to own 47 percent of the lake’s fishing area.

Big fish farms are allowed only in 40 percent of the lake; the rest is reserved for local fishers.

The commission said the LLDA failed to “rationalize the utilization of the Laguna de Bay area and its resources with due regard to the underprivileged fishermen and their entitlements.”

Loose zoning rules led to overfishing, which has shrunk the fish harvest. Free-roaming and farmed fish both feed on phytoplankton. Increasing eutrophication — an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorous — coupled with dropping oxygen levels in the lake has drastically reduced the plankton in the lake.

In the 1970s, it took just three to four months for fish to grow big enough to be harvested; today, it takes more than a year.

Another festering issue threatening the lake’s health is agricultural and industrial pollution. Domestic waste from lakeshore communities and informal settlers continue to contaminate the lake’s waters. Untreated sewage from plants and factories along the tributaries adds to the toxic mix.

More recently, microplastics — plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters — from discarded plastic products are believed to have found their way to Laguna Lake.

Siltation has also been a big challenge for the LLDA. Lakebed sediment from erosion and deforestation, accumulated over decades, has reduced the lake’s average depth to 2.5 meters from 12 meters.

A tree-replanting effort by the LLDA in the 1990s has not eased the silt buildup. In 2006, the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo approved a project to dredge 4.7 million cubic meters of silt and waste from Laguna Lake to improve water quality and increase its holding capacity.

The project was halted by President Benigno Aquino 3rd, who alleged that it was one of Arroyo’s “midnight deals.” The Belgian contractor sued the Aquino administration before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The panel ordered the Philippine government to pay the contractor P800 million in damages.

Aquino replaced the dredging project with one to build an expressway around Laguna Lake using materials dredged from the lake.

Laurel must be careful to avoid the pitfalls that have stymied previous Laguna Lake projects. He is off to a promising start, ordering the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to do a study on the capacity of the lake and take quarterly tests of its water quality.

We hope the challenges ahead do not dampen his enthusiasm. He must stay focused on the bigger picture, which is converting Laguna Lake into a “vibrant economic zone that showcases ecotourism.”