Blaming the decreasing fish catch to massive degradation of the coastal and marine environment, environmental group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) slammed on Thursday proposed reclamation projects around the Manila Bay area.
Instead of land reclamation, Kalikasan-PNE said, the government should embark on a massive rehabilitation of coastal and marine environment to address what they described as a serious threat to the country’s food supply.
On World Food Day, the group staged a picket at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Offices along Visayas Avenue to press the government to stop the proposed reclamation projects.
“Decreasing fish catch in the bay over the years has been observed as the mangrove areas in Manila Bay have decreased. Scientists have said that there are only at least 734 hectares of them left, down from 50,000 hectares from the last century. We do not need reclamation projects. What we need is to rehabilitate our beloved bay to keep our fish supply secure,” Leon Dulce, National Coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, said in a news statement.
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world every 16th of October to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
A map of Manila Bay made by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) shows how the density of fish eggs and juvenile fish are distributed across Manila Bay changes as a function of time. Among the areas that experience high density of juvenile fish include Obando, Bulacan, and Navotas, which are also among the sites of proposed reclamation projects such as the 2,000-hectare Aerotropolis project.
“Our few remaining mangrove areas like the site of the San Miguel Corp.’s Aerotropolis project would be wiped out in favor of an airport that cannot be eaten by the people nor by the migratory birds that visit Manila Bay every year. Reclamation projects like the Aerotropolis also threaten to disturb the natural flow of fish eggs and larvae in the bay, in turn affecting our fish supply,” he added.
There are over 50 fish species in Manila Bay, including sardine species such as ‘tamban’ (Sardinella gibbosa or Goldstripe sardinella), ‘tunsoy,’ (Sardinella fimbriata or Fringescale sardinella), and ‘alumahan’ (Rastrelliger kanagurta or Indian mackerel), which are sold in markets as food.
Fishing from the municipal waters of Manila Bayside provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan alone amounted to 3,576.16 metric tons or 13% of Central Luzon’s total municipal fish production in 2016, per Philippine Statistics Authority’s data. Metro Manila also recorded 7,573.61 metric tons of fish harvested from its municipal waters the same year.
“Reclamation projects will aggravate to the threats already facing our fish supply, such as plastic pollution. But instead of rehabilitating the bay, Duterte’s government is still pushing for the conducting of the Swiss Challenge for the Bulacan Aerotropolis reclamation project,” he said.