Dr. Emil Q. Javier After two years of uncertainty, Laguna Lake fish growers now look forward to the resolution of the impasse over the continuing presence of fish pens and cages in Laguna de Bay. They are now ready to fully re-stock their fish pens and resume operations. All the excess and illegal fish pens have been dismantled and those that remain are bonafide fish farms duly accredited by the authorities which are up-to-date with their fees and compliant with existing regulations. Except for some details in the relocation of fish structures, the organized fish producers and fisher folk welcome the new fishery development plan by the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA). This was the sentiment I gathered after having coffee with representatives of the Association of Laguna Lake Fish Producers and Fisherfolks, Inc. led by their president, Benjamin Francis Antonio (Taguig) and key officers, Mel Felix (Binangonan) and Emmanuel Angeles (Muntinlupa). The uncertainty began two years back when the LLDA board through Resolution 518 dated March 2017 ordered the demolition of all the fish pens in the lake following the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to clear the lake of fish structures which allegedly pollute the lake and unduly deprive small fishermen of their fishing grounds. However, after a series of consultations among stakeholders convened by no less than LLDA’s energetic General Manager himself, Jaime C. Pineda, the following became clear: 1) Contrary to common notion, fish culture is an insignificant contributor to the eutrophication of Laguna de Bay, 2) that fish pens and cages occupy only 10% of the area of the lake but contribute 65% of total fish harvest, and 3) cultured fish from the lake (principally bangus and tilapia) contribute significantly to the supply of affordable fish for Metro Manila. For these reasons, the new LLDA plan does not ban fish pens altogether but instead conservatively limits fish farming well below the lakes’ natural fish producing capacity. The plan likewise balances the competing needs of small fishermen for open waters to fish from versus the even more compelling need for affordable fish for the urban poor in Metro Manila and surrounding communities in Rizal and Laguna. Under the new plan, out of the 90,000 hectares of Laguna de Bay, only 9,200 hectares (10%) are allocated for fish pens and cages, the balance of 79,800 hectares being kept open for subsistence fisher folks. The average fish yield of fish pens in Laguna de Bay between 2012 and 2016 was 4.92 tons per hectare per year. Thus, the 9,200 hectares will extract 59,040 tons of fish. This is just a fraction (20%) of the estimated total lake potential fish biomass of 290,000 tons per year. Moreover, of the 9,200 hectares allocated for aquaculture, 60% are reserved for fish pens and cages owned by individual fisher folk and/or by their fish cooperatives. Thus, of the 90,000 total hectares of the lake, 79,800 hectares plus 5,520 hectares, effectively 85,330 hectares or 95% are reserved for small fishermen. This is more than fully compliant with Section 7 Article XIII of the constitution which confers preferential rights to subsistence fishermen for the use of communal marine and fisheries resources. Fish culture as a way of cleaning the lake Just like many other lakes near centers of population. Laguna de Bay is increasingly suffering from eutrophication i.e. the deposit of minerals and nutrients, principally nitrogen and phosphorus in a body of water. These nutrients promote excessive growth of plants and algae which ultimately die and decompose. The decomposition process depletes the oxygen in the water, killing fish and other aquatic animal species. A major indicator of the severity of eutrophication is the amount of nitrogen deposited each year in the body of water. A comprehensive assessment by an inter-agency scientific panel led by Academician Rodel Lasco of UP Los Baños revealed that the waste load of nitrogen in Laguna de Bay is in the order of 13,800 tons nitrogen per year. Further, that of this amount, domestic sources, irrigation water and industry effluents, accounted for 79%, 14% and 6%, respectively. Fish culture is lumped together with all other sources for the remaining less than 1.0% Clearly fish culture is only a miniscule contributor to water pollution of the lake. On the contrary, it is a major way of cleaning up the lake. Consider the following statistics which heretofore have been ignored: The average fish harvest in Laguna de Bay for the period 2012 to 2016 was 91,036 tons per year. Fresh fish is normally 20% protein, and the elemental nitrogen in protein is 16%. Thus, the nitrogen content of fresh fish is about 3.2%. The 91,036 tons of fish harvested each year amounts to an extraction of 2,913 tons nitrogen. Relocation of existing fish pens under the new plan The remaining outstanding issue as far as the commercial fish operators are concerned is the requirement that they pull up their existing fish pens and transfer them to the areas designated in the new master plan. Unfortunately, the existing fish pens vary in sizes and shapes and are haphazardly scattered all over the lake. The new LLDA plan calls for the re-location of the fish pens into neat, orderly grids with appropriate spacing to allow for free movement of water to minimize competition, as well as wide navigation lanes to permit easy movement of water craft for transport. Uprooting their fish pens now will be costly to the operators, and disrupt fish supplies (and thereby aggravate the inflation episode our economy is going through). The fish operators are prepared to eventually re-locate but would appreciate that LLDA give them time to recover their investments. The life of the anahaw and bamboo poles used in fish pens is about five years. A glide path to the new plan involving a 3-year transition should be a reasonable compromise. Organizing ‘corporatives’ for fisher folk The average annual fish catch for the lake during the period 2012 to 2016 was 0.41 kilogram per hectare. On the other hand, the average yield of fish pens during the period was 4.92 tons per hectare i.e. a productivity multiple of 11 times. Thus, it is in our national interest to fully subscribe to the 9,200 hectares which is conservatively allocated for fish culture in Laguna de Bay. The plan of reserving 5,520 hectares for fish pens and cages to be put up by individual small fishermen and/or by their fish cooperatives is well-intended but not likely to happen. There are three reasons why: 1) the capital investments and operating capital are beyond the reach of individual fishermen, 2) fish farming in the lake is a high risk venture due to natural disasters i.e. typhoons and algal blooms, and 3) organizing fisher folk into cooperatives is problematic and the officers most likely will not have the experience to manage enterprises of this magnitude. Land Bank of the Philippines President Alex Buenaventura has a solution — organize the fisher folk into a hybrid business model which he calls “corporative.” Instead of small individual water rights, economic-sized areas of 20 to 30 hectares could be collectively be assigned by LLDA to organized groups (fish cooperatives). The fish coops may now enter into a joint venture with an established fish operator who will provide management expertise and market connections. The capital counterpart of the fish corporative can be sourced from Land Bank with the understanding that part of dividends due to the fish cooperative from the joint venture will be retained each year to pay off Land Bank until the fisher folk are full owners of their half of the joint venture. To protect the interest of the fisher folk borrowers as well as the interest of the lender (Land Bank), the comptroller of the joint venture will be nominated by Land Bank. As incentive to the private fish producer JV managing partner, LLDA will assign the rights to say also 20–30 hectares as their water rights counterpart. This will be apart from their individual fish pen water rights obtained through the regular bidding process. The fish pens operators I cited above assured me that there will be many takers provided the day-to-day operations are exclusively managed by the JV integrator. LLDA and Land Bank should get together with the prospective fish cooperatives and fish operators to pilot the business model in 2 or 3 locations. Increasing fish catch by fisher folk The potential fish biomass capacity of Laguna Lake is estimated to be in the order of 290,000 metric tons each year. But the potential extraction from the 9,200 hectares allocated for the fish pens and cages is only in the order of 59,050 — a difference of 230,000 metric tons. But the actual catch is only 32,000 metric tons. This huge variance is something that needs to be carefully looked into and exploited. The most likely explanations for the poor catch are overfishing, and, recently, due to depredation of two invasive species — the janitor fish and knife fish. The problem of overfishing can be addressed either by closed fishing seasons or by establishing sanctuaries (no-catch areas) where the fish are allowed to spawn and multiply. However, since closed fishing seasons is difficult to implement the preferred approach could be through establishment of sanctuaries. LLDA should provide incentives to the lake shore barangays to establish and police fish sanctuaries in their respective areas. Regarding the two destructive invasive species, unfortunately they are here to stay and we can only try to keep their populations down by providing bounties to local fisher folk for catching these fish as what the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is doing now.

* Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a Member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chair of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP). For any feedback, email [email protected].