CLARK FREEPORT — The fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) warned yesterday that the proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to install large fish cages in every region “could further strengthen the control of few giant fishing firms in the fishing waters and may pose risk to the marine and aquatic environment.”
Pamalakaya noted that already, the Department of Finance (DOF) has allowed the DA to utilize P3 billion of the P4-billion Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) to establish at least 300 large fish cages per region.
It has been estimated that each would cost P1 million, including milkfi sh (bangus) fingerlings stocks, feeds, and other operational expenses. In a statement, Pamalakaya warned that “only big-time fishing corporations, entities, and individuals are capable of investing in large fish cages due to the intensive capital needed for the aquaculture industry.”
“Investing billions in aquaculture instead of strengthening the traditional capture fisheries shows the government’s priority which is to further the privatization of the remaining communal fishing waters at the expense of the livelihood of small fishers,” Pamalakaya lamented.
Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said that “aside from the intensive capital, it would be hard for a small fisher to sustain a fish cage because one fish cage with the size of one hectare will require at least 20 sacks of feeds every day, and that would cost a small fisherfolk who can’t even afford to have an adequate fishing gear a lot of fortune.”
The group also warned of “the risks of aquaculture to the marine and aquatic environment,” saying that “unregulated number of aquaculture and unsustainable practices may pollute the waters with chemical-based feeds used to culture the fish, and may likely result to ecological disturbances such as fish kills like what happened in Taal Lake and in Pangasinan recently.”
“The DA should learn from the consecutive fish kills that hit the Taal Lake and Pangasinan since last year. It has been scientifi cally proven that those fish kills occurred due to the depletion of oxygen caused by high feed intake,” added Hicap.
“While we agree that our country needs a stable supply of bangus, the government must first consider the geographical feature of an area especially those that are most vulnerable to typhoons and natural disasters before planning to install massive fish cages. Moreover, the aquaculture program must be sustainable, environment- friendly, and will not violate the rights of small fishers to communal fishing waters,” Hicap also said.
