Sorsogon Hopes Whale Sharks Will Perform ‘Heroic Role’ In Bay

May 26, 2009

Release from: Danny O. Calleja
Business Mirror

SORSOGON CITY — Apart from being the main attraction that placed a Sorsogon province on the map as a tourist destination, the whale sharks of Donsol town could take on another role of heroic proportions by their presence in Sorsogon Bay.

A major fishing ground that used to be home to the P100-million-a-year tahong (green mussel) industry, the bay has been plagued by the red tide phenomenon, and Gil Ramos, head of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ (BFAR) office here said on Tuesday it needs whale sharks to eliminate the toxic organisms.

The butanding—local term for the whale shark—feeds on planktons and could clean up the bay by sopping up the planktons that carry the red-tide organism, Ramos said.

He explained that although the red-tide organisms are deadly to humans, the whale shark could absorb the tainted planktons without suffering from the harmful effects as humans do.

Sorsogon Bay has also experienced the impact of overfishing. The significant reduction in the volume of big fish species in the area has contributed to the lingering presence of the red tide phenomenon, Ramos explained.

“Perhaps we need the Donsol butanding for the job of cleaning up the bay, but the problem is how to lure these giant mammals to come and stay and consume the red tide given the difficult situation confronting the bay,” Ramos said.

Sorsogon Bay is less than 10 kilometers away from the whale shark sanctuary of Donsol. The bay has a narrow mouth that makes it almost impossible for whale sharks to penetrate it.

On top of that, blast fishing and pollution drive whale sharks back into the open sea, Ramos said.

A 2002 study for the Coastal Resource Management Program (CRMP) for Sorsogon Bay said the bay’s natural abundance continuously attract fishermen from other villages. It has also attracted capitalists who invest in aquaculture and shellfish export.

The bay hosts six municipalities and 82 coastal barangays.

In 2000, the number of households around the bay was 16,016, of which 5,000 are fishing households. Fish production of the six municipalities around the bay was 42,344.58 metric tons in 1998.

As of last year, the Provincial Agricultural Office (PAO) estimated that the number of fisherfolks around the bay has reached 8,000, while its natural capacity has significantly dropped as indicated by the quality, and the average income of fishermen who have also declined.

Several fish species are already gone due to overfishing and pollution. Among them are the leaf fish, carani, blue anemones, stingray, brown mussel, thread fin, shark and croakers, while crabs and shellfish have shrunk in size, Serafin Lacdang, head of the fisheries division of the PAO said.

Lacdang raised the need to regulate harvesting of crabs and shellfish particularly the short-necked clam locally called baduy (Paphia undulata) that is intensively picked in the bay for export. This bottom-dwelling shellfish is not affected by the red tide according to latest studies conducted by the BFAR.

Harvesting of shellfish, particularly mussels and oysters, have been banned by the BFAR since early 2007 amid cases of paralytic food poisoning that has since killed at least 13 people and hospitalized over a hundred others in the locality.

Pollution is the main culprit in the occurrence of red tide in Sorsogon Bay, according to Ramos. An underwater inspection recently done by the BFAR discovered a huge volume of garbage that has settled on the sea floor, which looks like a vast dumpsite for household, industrial and natural wastes.

The pollution being by garbage provides red-tide organisms to stay alive, and only until this is resolved the Sorsogon Bay red tide phenomenon would be tamed, he said.

The depleted mangrove areas also form part of the present sad state of the bay.

The CRMP study shows that 1,920 hectares of 2,169.325 hectares of mangroves in the bay have been converted into fishponds. The bay also suffers from reclamation of coastal areas and massive siltation due to the denudation of surrounding mountains.

As a result, fisherfolks also experienced diminishing income.

BFAR surveys in the past three years showed that the average daily catch of marginal fisherfolks in the bay was a kilogram during lean months and three kilograms during the peak season.

This is equivalent to P40 to P120 earnings a day, it added.

Given the difficult situation in those days, some fishermen who have some money for capital shifted to tahong farming starting in the late 1990s and gave birth to an annual P100-million industry for the province.

Those who did not have the capital took on the role of farm workers, earning more than what they did as marginal fishermen. For the capitalist, going into tahong farming became a profitable venture.

Following the onslaught of Typhoons Milenyo and Reming that hit Sorsogon in late 2006, the red-tide phenomenon descended upon the bay and delivered a fatal blow to the industry.

Ramos said only when the toxicity level of the waters of the bay and the shellfish samples being tested on a weekly basis by BFAR scientists become normal or tolerable could the tahong industry of Sorsogon Bay rise again.

“That would happen only after we are able to restore its cleanliness and natural properties so that the butanding and other big fish come around to clean up the toxic substances of the red tide. It could not be done overnight but years or even decades should be counted given the serious pollution problem the bay has accumulated for so many years,” he added.