PROHIBITED. The Antique Provincial Board listens to Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Antique officer-in-charge Rowena Langga during their regular session on Monday (April 24, 2023). Langga said the gathering of shellfish and seaweed is still being prohibited in oil spill-affected barangays in Caluya, Antique. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Harvest of shellfish and seaweed in areas affected by the oil spill in three barangays of the municipality of Caluya in Antique is still disallowed.
"Gathering of shellfish and seaweed is still being prohibited in Sitio Sabang in Barangay Tinogboc, Sitio Sigayan and Sitio Toong of Barangay Semirara, and in Sitio Liwagao in Barangay Sibolo,” said Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Antique officer-in-charge Rowena Langga on Monday.
Langga appeared before the regular session of the Provincial Board where she briefed them on the status and extent of damage to the marine and aquatic resources caused by the oil spill that came from the sunken M/T Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro.
The organoleptic testing that makes use of senses such as taste, sight, smell, taste, and touch conducted by BFAR showed signs of oil tainting or traces of the oil spill, she said.
However, fishing activities are allowed outside the reef zone of affected areas of Sitio Sabang in Barangay Tinogboc, Sitio Sigayan and Sitio Toong in Barangay Semirara, and Sitio Liwagao in Barangay Sibolo and adjacent deeper waters, as per memorandum released by BFAR Regional Director Remia Aparri on April 12, she said.
The memorandum showed that while the fish samples showed a negative result of oil tainting or has no more traces of oil spill, the results for the shellfish and seaweed showed otherwise.
She added that the ban on fishing activities from March 4 until April 12 has affected 3,247 fisherfolks and 327 seaweed farmers resulting in around PHP51 million in lost income.
They are also waiting for the post-disaster assessment report from the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) before the rehabilitation of the oil spill-affected barangays is carried out.
Meanwhile, Provincial Board Member Dante Beriong, said any additional assistance to be extended to affected fisherfolks will depend on the report of the OCD.
"We still have to wait though for the assessment from OCD to know the additional assistance that the provincial government could extend to the affected residents there," he said.
The provincial government through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office since March 5 has already provided affected residents with 50 sacks of rice, 310 bottled water, personal protective equipment, and medicines. (PNA)
