Occurrence and recurrence: the fish kill story in Lake Buhi, Philippines

Fish cage farming is of paramount importance to lake dwellers income and livelihood and to domestic fish supply. However, the occurrence and recurrence of fish kill have been reported annually with serious economic losses. This work explored the causes of occurrence and recurrence of fish kill in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAquaculture, Aquarium, Conservation & Legislation Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 152 - 158
Main Authors Nieves, Plutomeo M, Mendoza, Antonino B, Bradecina, Sandy Rey B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cluj-Napoca Bioflux SRL 01.02.2020
Subjects
Agricultural economics
Agricultural practices
Ammonia
Aquaculture
Best practice
By-products
Byproducts
Cages
Data analysis
Decision analysis
Decomposition
Dissolved oxygen
Economic impact
Economics
Environmental monitoring
Farmers
Farming
Fish
Fish culture
Fish farms
Fish kill
Fisheries
Human influences
Hurricanes
Hydrogen sulfide
Lakes
Local government
Man-induced effects
Mass mortality
Nitrogen
Rain
Tilapia
Trade winds
Typhoons
Water temperature
Wind
Philippines
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Summary:Fish cage farming is of paramount importance to lake dwellers income and livelihood and to domestic fish supply. However, the occurrence and recurrence of fish kill have been reported annually with serious economic losses. This work explored the causes of occurrence and recurrence of fish kill in the context of finding adaptive solution. Dataset for the study was generated through key informant interview, focused group discussion and secondary data analysis. Problem Tree was used to identify the root-cause and SWOT analysis was employed to craft best practice guideline for Local Government Unit in outlining the action plans for management of cage aquaculture. Findings reveal the fish kill occurrence can be traced from the natural and human-induced stresses and mismanagement of lake's resources. Typhoons and prevailing trade winds play a major role as triggering factor while the uncontrolled number of cages and unsustainable farming practices are the major determinants of fish kill event. The interaction between water temperature, dissolved oxygen, wind mixing and by-products of decomposition (i.e. ammonia-nitrogen and H2S) as a result of overfeed and lake over-use are the key elements of fish kill in the lake. Monitoring critical levels of water temperature and dissolved oxygen is useful information in fish kill prediction. Finally, given that the lake is a common property with multiple use nature, a multisectoral management approach is necessary to sustain the fish cage industry.
ISSN:1844-8143
1844-9166