Should the fishpens and fishcages in Laguna de Bay be dismantled? Current government pronouncements seem to focus on doing this, suggesting that fishpen and fishcage culture operations are the main culprit in the deterioration of the quality of the water and resources in the lake.
The said dismantling and possible eventual phase out of the fishpen and fishcage culture activities, however, may be unwarranted, according to Dr. Danilo Israel, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
For one, studies have shown that the main causes of pollutants in the lake come from other sources and not from fishpens and fishcages. And two, stopping the operations will affect the poor who benefit from the cheap freshwater fish produced in the lake.