To Reclaim ‘Premier Bangus Producer’ Tag: Binmaley clearing rivers of illegal fishpens

BINMALEY, Pangasinan — This municipality, known as the "fish bowl" of Pangasinan, wants to reclaim its old glory as the premier bangus-producing town of the province. As part of this effort, operators have started to voluntarily dismantle their illegal fishpens to enable the rivers to breathe again.

But the demolition of the illegal structures was the result of a year of unwavering pleas by the municipal government led by Mayor Simplicio Rosario to the fishpen operators to achieve the town’s goal of having not a single fishpen in local rivers.

So far, 80 percent of illegal fishpens have been dismantled in 25 barangays after only a month of the clearing operation.

This came after Rosario issued an executive order last month to remove all illegal structures that obstruct rivers and deprive small fishermen of their livelihood.

Some believe that Rosario’s bold move was a big sacrifice in his political career since some of the fishpen operators are big businessmen.

But Rosario said he wants to bring back the town’s old glory as the province’s premier bangus-producing town. In fact, he said Binmaley has the biggest inland fishponds in Pangasinan where milkfish is cultured.

Binmaley has 3,200 hectares of fishponds, which produce an average of 2.3 metric tons of bangus per hectare every year. Fishpond operators have an average stocking density of 5,000 to 7,000 bangus per hectare.

The barangay councils threw their support behind Rosario’s move, passing resolutions dismantling fishpens in their respective communities.

For its part, the municipal council led by Vice Mayor Jeffrey de los Angeles approved a revised fishery ordinance totally banning fishpens in the town.

Municipal agriculturist Butch Ferrer told The STAR that as of June 5, the first barangays to have attained zero fishpen status are Balagan, Pallas, Parayao, Pototan, Sabangan, and Balogo.

Based on the inventory of Ferrer’s office for many years, about 300 operators, some of them from other provinces, have maintained 349 fishpens in Binmaley.

So far, 279 fishpens have been dismantled and 70 more will be removed after their operators harvest their stocks in the next few days, Ferrer said.

The remaining fishpens are in the barangays of Gayaman, Linoc, Nagpalangan, Caloocan Sur, Caloocan Norte, Camaley, Amancoro, Manat, Biec, Salapingao, Dupo, Lomboy, Buenlag, Poblacion, Malindong, and Canaoalan.

Bangus raised in fishponds tastes better than those in fishpens. The fish feeds on natural nutrients in fishponds, while that in fishpens relies on commercial feeds, Ferrer said.

Commercial feeds also accumulate at the bottom of the river, resulting in pollution, he said, adding that the abuse of the river system is partly to blame for fishkills.

Ferrer said they hope to attain their zero fishpen goal within the month.