Migratory birds congregate on the 8-hectare Pond A at the South Road Properties in Cebu City to feast on dead tilapia ang bangus that floated on the surface of the pond following a massive fish kill resulting from days of intense heat experience in Cebu. |CDNDigital file Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines —The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources found that low dissolved oxygen content and high temperature caused the fish kill at the South Road Properties (SRP) Pond A.
Around 600 kilos of dead fish were recovered from the area last week.
Alfeo Piloton, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Central Visayas, told CDN Digital that the the fish sample tested showed very low bacteria content.
This meant that bacteria did not cause the death of the fishes, Piloton said.
Read more: 600 kilos of dead fish collected at SRP’s Pond A after heat wave hits Cebu
However, the laboratory results on the testing of the water sample from Pond A showed that it had very low dissolved oxygen, he disclosed.
Dissolved oxygen is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in water or the amount of oxygen available to aquatic organisms, according to the United States Geological Survey website. It is breathed by fish and is needed by them to survive.
Piloton said that they also found that the water had high content if ammonia, which competed with fish in consuming dissolved oxygen.
He clarified that Pond A, which is a catchment area, could not be suitable for aquaculture.
A properly managed fish pond requires free flowing water or aeration, which would circulate the water and add dissolved oxygen, Piloton said.
The low dissolved oxygen coupled with the high temperature resulting from continued sunny weather caused the fish kill, he stressed.
According to Piloton, they already urged the local government to guard the area to keep anyone from gathering fish from the area.
He said they learned that there were some persons who came in trucks to gather the dead fish to sell these in the markets.
Piloton also cautioned people from consuming the live fish from the area because they could not ensure that these would be safe to eat./dbs