Post by admin on Nov 4, 2013 8:05:40 GMT 8
World’s smallest food fish extinction warned
October 28, 2013
Overexploitation of Lake Buhi, the only habitat of “sinarapan,” the world’s smallest food fish belonging to the goby family, could possibly lead to the extinction of the species.
In a study conducted by a team led by Dr. Cely S. Binoya of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA, formerly known as Camarines Sur State Agricultural College), it became evident that the freshwater lake located only 91.5 meters above sea level in Buhi, Camarines Sur, has become not only a source of food but also energy since the lakewaters propel the turbines in a power plant established in 1957 to generate electricity for the town and neighboring municipalities. Moreover, the waters flowing through the power plant provide irrigation for 12,000 hectares of farms in the lower portions of the province.
The study, titled “Managing and Conserving Lake Buhi: An Agroecosystem Analysis for Sustainable Development,” was funded by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Research and Graduate Study in Agriculture (SEARCA) through its Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT), shattered traditional beliefs that the lake could replenish itself and allow more economic ventures to flourish.
SEARCA Director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said the paper won an award for being an original analysis that also collated baseline data crucial for formulating a policy on how to save Lake Buhi. Lake Buhi used to be 1,800 hectares but its size has diminished to only 1,707 hectares, which is about one percent of the size of Laguna de Bay, the biggest lake in the country and third largest lake in Southeast Asia. Lake Buhi’s depth ranges from 6.8 meters to 12 meters, much deeper than Laguna de Bay, and has clay to clayey sediments.
Binoya and her team conducted not only focus group discussions (FGDs) but also transect mapping to immediately see the resources available in specific areas of the 10 barangays surrounding the lake, seven of which are in uplands and three in the lowlands.
Analysis of the farming and fishing activities in the area, Binoya stressed, led to the discovery that pressure on the carrying capacity of the lake is building up and would eventually threaten the sustainability of the inland water body.
Aquaculture operations in Lake Buhi started in the 1980s, eventually luring in investors and commercial operators eager to corner the supply of freshwater fish in the Bicol Region and elsewhere in Southern Luzon. In what amounts to a jarring discovery, the Binoya team said “inland fish culture covers between 70 percent and 80 percent of the lake surface.” With this huge area dominated by fish cages, pens and corals, the study team issued a warning that “sinarapan,” known scientifically as Misticthys luzonensis, would vanish more than 400 years after people first noticed its presence in the lake. “Fishpen operators tended to overstock their cages, requiring the use of more commercial feeds. About 2,837.5 tons of feeds are used by almost 15,600 fish cages at present per production cycle, quickly becoming a major source of nutrient loading in the lake,” Binoya stressed.
Source: www.mb.com.ph/worlds-smallest-food-fish-extinction-warned/
October 28, 2013
Overexploitation of Lake Buhi, the only habitat of “sinarapan,” the world’s smallest food fish belonging to the goby family, could possibly lead to the extinction of the species.
In a study conducted by a team led by Dr. Cely S. Binoya of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA, formerly known as Camarines Sur State Agricultural College), it became evident that the freshwater lake located only 91.5 meters above sea level in Buhi, Camarines Sur, has become not only a source of food but also energy since the lakewaters propel the turbines in a power plant established in 1957 to generate electricity for the town and neighboring municipalities. Moreover, the waters flowing through the power plant provide irrigation for 12,000 hectares of farms in the lower portions of the province.
The study, titled “Managing and Conserving Lake Buhi: An Agroecosystem Analysis for Sustainable Development,” was funded by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Research and Graduate Study in Agriculture (SEARCA) through its Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT), shattered traditional beliefs that the lake could replenish itself and allow more economic ventures to flourish.
SEARCA Director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said the paper won an award for being an original analysis that also collated baseline data crucial for formulating a policy on how to save Lake Buhi. Lake Buhi used to be 1,800 hectares but its size has diminished to only 1,707 hectares, which is about one percent of the size of Laguna de Bay, the biggest lake in the country and third largest lake in Southeast Asia. Lake Buhi’s depth ranges from 6.8 meters to 12 meters, much deeper than Laguna de Bay, and has clay to clayey sediments.
Binoya and her team conducted not only focus group discussions (FGDs) but also transect mapping to immediately see the resources available in specific areas of the 10 barangays surrounding the lake, seven of which are in uplands and three in the lowlands.
Analysis of the farming and fishing activities in the area, Binoya stressed, led to the discovery that pressure on the carrying capacity of the lake is building up and would eventually threaten the sustainability of the inland water body.
Aquaculture operations in Lake Buhi started in the 1980s, eventually luring in investors and commercial operators eager to corner the supply of freshwater fish in the Bicol Region and elsewhere in Southern Luzon. In what amounts to a jarring discovery, the Binoya team said “inland fish culture covers between 70 percent and 80 percent of the lake surface.” With this huge area dominated by fish cages, pens and corals, the study team issued a warning that “sinarapan,” known scientifically as Misticthys luzonensis, would vanish more than 400 years after people first noticed its presence in the lake. “Fishpen operators tended to overstock their cages, requiring the use of more commercial feeds. About 2,837.5 tons of feeds are used by almost 15,600 fish cages at present per production cycle, quickly becoming a major source of nutrient loading in the lake,” Binoya stressed.
Source: www.mb.com.ph/worlds-smallest-food-fish-extinction-warned/