By John Rey Saavedra
CEBU CITY – The deluge of sardine fish that washed ashore in a coastal village in the southern town of Ginatilan on Valentine’s Day is something not to worry about, a regional fishery official said Friday.
Mario Ruinita, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 (Central Visayas), said the beaching of thousands of sardine fish on Feb. 14 could be a positive effect of the 60-day closed fishing season imposed on the Visayan Sea.
“It’s a positive impact in the area after the closing of fishing season. They should not be associated with geological phenomena. This is normal, especially since we are entering the summer season where fish is abundant,” Ruinata said.
Residents of Ginatilan’s coastal village of Poblacion were greeted by a deluge of the fish known in Cebuano as “lopoy” or juvenile sardine, “tuloy” or “mangsi” on Wednesday or a day before the bureau lifted the fishing ban.
He explained that a school of fish beached because they were disoriented while chasing their food.
According to him, the fish are safe to eat.
Floramie Dacillo, who uploaded a video on social media, said nothing happened to her neighbors who cooked the fish gathered from the shore.
In September last year, the BFAR issued Fisheries Administrative Order 167-3, prohibiting the catching, killing, selling, or possessing the sexually mature sardines, herrings, and mackerels or their larvae, fry, or young, known locally as “lupoy,” “silinyasi,” linatsay,” or “manansi,” in the portion of the Visayan Sea and adjoining waters from Nov. 15, 2023 to Feb. 15, 2024.
The fishing ban covered the line drawn from the mouth of the Danao River on the northeastern tip of the Bantayan Island to Madridejos, through the lighthouse on Gigantes Island, to Clutaya Island, to Culasi Point in Capiz province, eastward along the northern coast of Capiz to Bulacaue Point in Carles, Iloilo, southward along the eastern coast of Iloilo to the mouth of Talisay River, westward across the Guimaras Strait to Tomonton Point in Occidental Negros, eastward along the northern Coast of the Island of Negros and back to the mouth of Danao River in Escalante, Negros Occidental.
The fishing ban aimed to address the depleting supply of fish in the region.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 7 reported a 46 percent drop in Central Visayas’ fish production in 2022, or 79,280 metric tons (MT) from the 146,710 MT posted in 2021. (PNA)
