CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan — A team from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been dispatched to assess the environmental impact of the fish kill in Obando town.
EMB Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio on Wednesday said DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu has given the order to verify if the estimated 250 metric tons of decaying fish have affected the seven villages of Obando.
“Fishpond operators are obligated to dispose of the fish that were killed inside their culture pond while fish that were killed along the river system of Obando are the responsibility of the local government units concerned to dispose of the inappropriate matter,” Claudio said.
Jocelyn Gomez, head of the Provincial Public Health Office, said as of the moment, no untoward health incident related to the fish kill was reported.
The EMB team has been directed to coordinate with Celia Esteban, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer of Bulacan, together with the local government of Obando, and conduct water sampling to assess the water quality of the river system and its impact to the residents in the area.
Fish health inspection team from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Provincial Agriculture Office has investigated the fish kill and reported that mortalities were caused by extremely low dissolved oxygen content of the fishpond water due to cloudy skies and abrupt rainfall in the area.
BFAR Regional Director Wilfredo Cruz said 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 fish free to fisherfolk in the area, who in turn sold these as fish meal to crab and prawn raisers for PHP200 per 40 kilos.
The fisherfolk were estimated to have gathered and sold at least 125 metric tons as fish meal while the rest of it was buried.
“BFAR is currently assessing the volume of fingerlings that they will be provided to the affected fishpond operators,” Cruz added.
Fisherfolk said 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 the river cleanup and of the affected fishponds was already completed on Wednesday.
“The foul-smelling odor of the decaying fish has already subsided,” Sta. Maria said. (Manny Balbin/PNA)
