Philippines: Pollution threatens Samar’s mussel industry—BFAR

By Vicente Labro
(The Inquirer).- The P51-million mussel industry of Samar is now under threat from pollution that has caused the drastic decline in the production of green mussels in the province.

Fishery officials here admitted that parasitic bacteria might have caused the dwindling production of mussels, locally known as "tahong," but they are pointing to the presence of nitrogenous waste as the primary cause of bacterial growth in the area, according to Juan Albaladejo, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Eastern Visayas.
 
Affected are mussel farms in the towns of Jiabong, Villareal, Catbalogan and Zumarraga, which are in the Maqueda Bay area, and Tarangnan town that is facing the Samar Sea.
 
Mussel production in some of these areas has declined by up to 60 percent, said Albaladejo.
 
Samar supplies mussel to Cebu, Davao and even Manila.
 
The phenomenon was first noticed late in May, and initial results of laboratory tests on water samples taken from the area showed the presence of pathogenic bacteria, Albaladejo said.
 
But fishery officials suspect that the sediments found in mussel farms may have caused the presence of bacteria in those areas.
 
"It's more of accumulation of nitrogenous waste," said Albaladejo.
 
He explained that "disease is only secondary because there is a primary factor, which is the accumulation of nitrogenous waste in the bay."

He said mussels are easily attacked by bacteria or microbes that there is an immediate need to remove the sediment in the area that caused the presence of bacteria.
 
Albadejo said he already ordered his field personnel to look into the sediments and find ways to solve the problem of nitrogenous waste in tahong farms but their trip to Samar was delayed because of typhoon "Frank" (international codename: Fengshen)
 
He said the group would finally be going to Samar this week. "Let us just hope that the typhoon has washed away these sediments," he added.
 
He said he would recommend the zoning of tahong farms in Samar, and for the growers to venture into polyculture by growing mussels and oysters.
 
"They should grow tahong and oysters [together]," he said, adding that in polyculture there is a positive effect, like inter-cropping in agriculture.
 
Rolando Ay-ay, Samar provincial fishery officer, affirmed that while tahong growers in the province were affected by the phenomenon, growers could still sell their mussels, unlike during red tide occurrence when the gathering and selling of tahong is prohibited.
 
The mussels in Samar, he said, are still fit for human consumption.
 
He said Samar's mussel industry earns around P51 million a year, with P14 million for the sales of bamboo being used as stakes in mussels growing and the remaining P37 million coming from the sales of tahong.
 
According to Ay-ay, he already advised the tahong growers to immediately harvest their mussels because of the phenomenon which, according to him, was the first time to have occurred in Samar.
 
He said about 60 to 70 percent of the mussel farms in the province were already affected by the phenomenon.
 
He said he also advised the mussel growers to seek the assistance of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net