Taal Lake — another

fish kill
Another fish kill was reported in Taal Lake last
Friday as thousands of milkfish and tilapia floated to the
lake’s surface in fish cages off Laurel and Agoncillo,
Batangas. It had been a hot day followed by heavy rains
late in the afternoon.
What may have killed the fish, according to the Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was the drop in the
lake’s dissolved oxygen from its normal level of 6 parts per
million (ppm) on the lake’s surface, down to 0.86 ppm last
week. Fish cultured in fish cages need an oxygen level
between 5 and 6 ppm in order to survive, the bureau said.
Some fisheries experts say it is also possible that the
fish kill was caused by sulfur rising from the depths
following the strong rains after the very hot day.
Fish kills could also be caused by diseases from viruses
and bacteria, algal blooms, fish toxins from run-off water,
and high levels of hydrogen sulfide. A fish kill in the
Pampanga River in 2017 was traced to the discharges from
an alcohol fermentation plant.
 In 2006, the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) found 14,000 fish cages on Taal Lake,
when the ideal carrying capacity of the lake is only 6,000
cages. The number of cages was thus reduced until the
authorized level was reached in 2011. With the recent fish
kill, the DENR said it may have to further lower the number
of authorized fish cages, also considering the increasing
number of tourist businesses around the lake.
Government attention is now focused on Taal, with
President Duterte himself expressing concern. The
President, we may recall, once called attention to the
many fish cages he saw in Laguna de Bay from his plane to
Davao in the first year of his administration. He acted
decisively in the case of Boracay, which he ordered closed
for six months of rehabilitation, and has now also ordered
the cleanup of Manila Bay.
The DENR is now considering implementing a single-
growth cycle for fish cages to give the lake time to rest and
recover from the intensive economic activity. Fish kills are a
symptom, a sign that something is amiss.
It may be time to give Taal and the many other lakes,
rivers, and coastal areas in the country a needed rest from
increasingly intense exploitation by business interests.
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