ALAMINOS CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) recommended a mandatory rest fish pen, cage and trap operations in five fish-producing towns of Pangasinan, west of the Lingayen Gulf.

The recommendation was made by BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento during a meeting with local chief executives of Alaminos City, Bani, Bolinao, Anda and Sual (ABBAS) last July 24 at the BFAR Center in Lucap Wharf, the jump off point to the Hundred Islands.

Sarmiento said a “mandatory rest” in pen, cage and trap operations is a must to allow nature to recover by flushing out toxins and sediment into the sea.

]Noting the massive fish kill in Bolinao and Anda area a month ago, Sarmiento said the phenomenon could have been averted had the LGUs done the right thing—the wise use of their municipal waters.

The meeting was attended by Mayors Hernani Braganza of Alaminos City, Marcelo Navarro Jr. of Bani, Alfonso Celeste of Bolinao together with their agriculturists and planning officers. Absent were Mayors Nestor Pulido of Anda and Rodney Arcinue of Sual.

The meeting discussed the Results and Recommendations of the Study: “Mitigating Aquaculture Impacts in the Philippines”.

“We must now move in al fronts in order not to aggravate the situation,” said Sarmiento who called the recent fish kill as a sign of a big problem in the coastal waters of ABBAS.

Sarmineto said the BFAR would help identify and provide alternative livelihood for affected fisherfolk once the proposed moratorium in pen, cage and trap operations takes effect.

BFAR recommended short-term integrated management plan to avert any more fishkill, like strict implementation of the coastal management plan, halt to fish farming operations within the 2.7 kilometer stretch of the Caquiputan Channel, use of floater feeds and training and accreditation of cage workers or caretakers.

For the long term plan, BFAR vowed to help establish quality regulation of feeds and conduct regular information education drive.

Reminding that LGUs have the full control over their coastal waters, Sarmiento said this means that they too have the power to regulate fishing activities in their respective areas.