Fish cages now allowed in Lasang

THE City Agriculturist Office (CAO) on Tuesday said operations of fish cages are now allowed in the sea off Lasang.

City Agriculturist Office (CAO) chief Valente Turtur, in an interview, told reporters that the fish cage operators are now allowed to operate in Lasang provided that they secure first the necessary permits and follow stringent regulations prior to the operation.

These documents are Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Barangay Clearance, and License to Operate from CAO. Prospect operators must also submit letter of intent and an application form from CAO and an endorsement from Barangay Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (BFARMC).

The plan to open a mariculture park in Lasang

came following the recommendation made by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that the area is suitable for fish cage operations.

The official added that what makes Lasang ideal for fish cage operations are the water quality, moderate water current and only few houses are built near the sea.

In fact, Lasang is very suitable for mariculture park, Turtur said.

He said high contamination of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the sea is caused primarily from human wastes.

“Mag-una lang sila sa barangay, magkuha og permit na magoperate (They have to go to the barangay and ask permit to operate),” he said, adding that fish cage operators in Punta Dumalag were already informed on the matter, but no one has signified intent to operate in Lasang yet.

Turtur also encouraged fish cage operators to form an organization to police their members and maintain the cleanliness of the sea.

“Ang purpose ana magkaroon sila og code of best practice na sundon (The purpose of such an organization is also for them to follow the code of best practice)... Its objective is to conserve the area where they operate,” he added.

If the plan on a mariculture park in Lasang pushes through, Turtur said more fish cages can be established there, considering the area of around 100 hectares suitable for fish farming unlike in Punta Dumalag where only 12.36 hectares was allowed.

It can be recalled that around 47 operators, with around 200 fish cages, were affected when the City Government of Davao issued a closure order last year.

“Ang paramount consideration ni mayor kay ang safety of the people (The parammount consideration of Mayor Sara was the safety of the people),” he said.

Based on the series of microbial analysis on fish and seawater sample results of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 11 from September to October 2012, results showed a low level of E. coli in the waters off Punta Dumalag at 3 MPN/ g (most probable number per gram), still within the permissible limit of 11 MPN/g.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in a text message, said: “CAO recommended the (opening) of the water fish cages on the basis of one water testing result. (But) one test result does not speak for 12 months of a year.”

“The public should be wary of buying from those suppliers,” she added.

With only a little over a month as myor, DuterteCarpio passed on the decision whether to lift or not the order to her father, Mayor-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

“Since he is the incoming mayor maybe then he can make an informed decision if he studies the problem using the available data from the past four years,” she said.