Visayas Oil Spill

ILOILO CITY — Marine scientists have recorded a 65-percent drop in fish abundance from the waters of Guimaras following last year's massive oil spill that ravaged the island-province.

The findings of a research team headed by Dr. Wilfredo Campos was presented during the 9th National Symposium in Marine Science of the Pams held in Iloilo City last week.

The studies showed a drop in fish density, biomass and diversity compared to the figures recorded in the same areas in 2001.

The fish density in Guimaras waters dropped from 1.5 grams per square meter in 2001 to .8 in 2006 while biomass dropped from 26.5 g/sq m in 2001 to 9.3 in 2006. The fish diversity or different species of fish also went down from 48.2 in 2001 to 35.8 in 2006.

Fish density refers to the number of fish in the area while biomass refers to the weight of a fish.

Campos said the low figures were consistent in the 500-sq m monitoring stations located in six sites in Barangay Tando and at the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve, both in Nueva Valencia town.

The areas were among the hardest hit by the oil spill after the M/T Solar I sank 13 nautical miles off Guimaras on Aug. 11, 2006, spilling almost two million liters of bunker fuel into the sea and triggering one of the country's worst environmental disasters.

The findings scientifically validateD the observations and complaints of fisherfolk and residents in affected areas that their fish catch has substantially decreased following the oil spill.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and mangrove experts have also recorded the dying of at least 600 mature mangrove trees in Guimaras. Mangroves serve as breeding and feeding grounds of fishes.

Scientists have earlier said that the long-term and full impact of the oil spill on marine life in Guimaras would only be known after many years and would require continuous monitoring.

Campos said the oil spill could be the main reason for the drastic drop in fish volume in the affected areas.

But he said they had expected that the impact on fishes would have been short-term because the mature ones could have had evaded the oil spill by swimming away from the affected areas.

"This could also be caused by other factors that we need to study further because the low figures are still there [more than] a year ... after the oil spill," Campos said in an interview.

He said other reasons could include, unregulated fishing, dynamite and other illegal forms of fishing. Inquirer