Fishpens Have Enhanced The Fisheries Of Laguna De Bay

LAGUNA DE BAY is our country’s largest lake and was once a part of Manila Bay. The lake has an area of 90,000 hectares (ha), a shoreline of 228 kilometers, and an average depth of 2.5 meters. It is bounded by the provinces of Rizal and Laguna and some portions of Metro Manila. Water in the lake is supplied by 21 tributaries, with the Pagsanjan River and Santa Cruz River as major contributors. The lake is highly eutrophic (enriched with nutrients) with heavy loads of nitrates and phosphates washed into it from domestic and agricultural sources.

- Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III

The fisheries of Laguna de Bay are the primary use of the lake, according to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the government agency tasked with the management and development of the freshwater resource that is also used as a source of water for domestic supply, irrigation, transportation, energy generation, recreation, and eco-tourism. The fisheries of the lake consist of the open water fisheries exploited by over 13,000 small fishers, and aquaculture with the growing of milkfish (Chanos chanos) and bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) in pens operated by “big companies and moneyed individuals” and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in cages of small operators.

The fisheries production of Laguna de Bay from open water fishing was 86,282 metric tons (mt) in 1963, made up largely of indigenous snails, shrimp, and non-omnivorous fishes feeding on shrimp and snails like the silver perch or “ayuňgin,” white goby or “biya,” and the Manila catfish or “kanduli.”