Piloton to Coastal Community Residents: Observe proper waste disposal to prevent red tide

BFAR’s Shellfish Bulletin No. 13 issued on July 24, 2019 still includes Tagbilaran City and Dauis town in Bohol province as among the red tide affected ares in the country. /Screengrab from the BFAR website

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Take care of your own wastes.

This was the advise of Alfeo Piloton, Central Visayas director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), to refrain from polluting the seas.

Piloton said that the indiscriminate disposal of domestic wastes especially among residents of coastal communities in the region is the number one contributor to the red tide phenomenon now experienced in Tagbilaran City and Dauis town in Bohol province.

The two localities have been included in the BFAR shellfish bulletin since January 2018.

Shellfish Bulletin No. 13 issued by the BFAR Central Office on July 24, 2019 said that traces of red tide could still be found in the waters of Tagbilaran City and Dauis town.

Red tide is a phenomenon where seawater experiences discoloration due to the high concentration of marine algae and algae biomass.

Shellfish coming from these areas pose health risks and are not safe for consumption.  Intake could result to severe health conditions like paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).

“Continuous ang campaign nato kay taud-taud na gyud na diha. We regularly conduct water sampling but positive gihapon,” Piloton told CDN Digital.

(We continue with our campaign (against the indiscriminate disposal of household wastes into sea) because the two localities continue to show traces of red tide. We also conduct regular water sampling there and the results remain positive.)

Piloton said that while red tide is prevalent in at least two areas in Bohol province, the rest of Central Visayas remains free from any algal bloom.

“Sige man ang among monitoring unya kanag mga muddy areas nga possible ma contaminate amo na paadtuan. Pero so far, kani pa gyung sa Tagbilaran ug sa Dauis ang nagpositive,” Piloton said.

(We continue to conduct regular monitoring and would immediately send personnel especially in muddy areas where the possibility of contamination is high. But so far, we only found traces of contamination in the waters in Tagbilaran City and Dauis.)

Other areas in the country that tested positive for red tide are San Pedro, Maqueda, Irong-Irong, Silanga and Cambatutay bays in Western Samar; Lianga Bay in Surigao del Sur; Baliti Bay in Mati City, Davao Oriental; and Puerto Princesa Bay in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan./dcb