Fishermen group cry foul over Laguna de Bay moratorium
Amidst ongoing plans to revitalize the ecosystem of Laguna de Bay, the Association of Laguna Lake Fish Producers and Fisher Folks, Inc. (ALLFPFF) continues to seek reconsideration on Laguna Lake Development Authority’s (LLDA) one-year moratorium on all fishpens, fishcages, and other aquaculture structures in the country’s largest lake.
The group of fishermen said recklessly disturbing the lake’s fragile ecosystem will destroy its aquaculture industry and will completely go against the government’s own efforts to promote a balanced and healthful ecology.
“We find the moratorium too harsh towards fishery, the most vital contributor to Laguna Lake’s development. The environmental references suggest that the moratorium’s purpose is to punish aquaculture for an evil it did not cause — pollution in the lake,” said ALLFPFF legal representative Joel Dizon in a letter addressed towards LLDA.
ALLFPFF backed their claims with research from Greenpeace and LakeNet studies showing that 99 percent of pollution in Laguna de Bay comes from land-based sources with only one percent coming from in the lake.
“On the contrary, organic fish farming is precisely the reason behind the lake’s capacity to fight pollution. [The fish] consume 50,000 kilograms of algae every day and it is the lake’s most efficient natural filtering and dredging mechanism,” Dizon said. “Demolishing the fish pens will have the opposite effect. There will be an explosion of algal bloom, ultimately depleting the water’s dissolved oxygen content and life beneath the water’s surface will ultimately die.”
Despite rebuttals, LLDA board resolution 518 approved last February requires that majority of aquaculture operations in the lake would have to be dismantled to restore the lake’s ecosystem.
Fish pen operators are given only until March 31 to harvest their stocks and volunteer to demolish their aquaculture structures. However, the LLDA has already been clearing out five to six hectares daily since Feb. 1.
LLDA has announced that they will lead in demolishing 30 corporate and individually-owned fish pens that cover around 1,000 hectares of the lake by April. Demolition prioritization was based on fish pens without permits, those with unpaid fees, or those violating zoning map areas and navigational lanes. However, fish pens spanning a hectare or less will not be affected by LLDA’s operations.