CITY OF MALOLOS—Lormelyn E. Claudio, Central Luzon director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has dispatched a team to assess the environmental impact of the fish kill in Obando town.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has given the directive to assess the environmental impact of the fish kill since an estimated 250 metric tons of cultured fish were killed in the incident and may pose health and environmental hazards to the affected communities, according to Claudio.
The EMB team will be coordinating with Celia Esteban, provincial environment and natural resources officer of Bulacan, together with the local government of Obando and will conduct water sampling of the river system of the town.
Findings by a fish health inspection team from the Provincial Agriculture Office of Bulacan and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that earlier investigated the fish kill show the fish mortalities were due to the extremely low dissolved-oxygen content of the fishpond water caused by the cloudy skies and abrupt rainfall in the area.
Jocelyn E. Gomez, provincial public health officer of Bulacan, said that as of the moment, no untoward health incident related to the fish kill was reported.
On the other hand, Wilfredo M. Cruz, director of BFAR-Region 3, said that affected fishpond operators in the seven villages of Pag-asa, Paliwas, Hulo, Lawa, Paco, Tawiran and Salambao in Obando town have decided to give the dead cultured fishes free of charge to fisherfolk in the areas.
The dead fishes gathered were sold at P200 per 40-kilo banyera as fish meal for fishpond operators raising crabs and prawns in other fishpond areas of Bulacan, Cruz said.
He added that local fisherfolk’s income were augmented when they were able to sold at least 125 metric tons as fish meal while the rest of the dead and decaying fishes were buried.
Cruz said the BFAR is currently assessing the volume of fingerlings that they will be providing to the affected fishpond operators.
Fishermen confided that it will take several weeks before commercial fish and crustacean species return to the affected river system of the town.
Meanwhile, Freddy Sta. Maria Jr., municipal agriculture officer of Obando, said that the cleanup of the affected fishponds were already completed as of Wednesday.
The foul-smelling odor of the decaying fish affecting the barangays has already subsided, Sta. Maria claims.