The head of the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources – National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (BFAR-NIFTDC) has disputed recent reports of a fishkill in Dagupan City, warning the public against using loose terminology to describe an otherwise stable situation. “Some people are calling it a case of fishkill, which is wholly misleading,” said Dr. Westley Rosario. “There were a number of fish that died in isolated fishponds, but not in the river. This suggests that the stocking density of these fishponds was high, aggravated by the recent rainfall,” Rosario noted. Fishkill is technically defined as the mass death of aquatic animals, caused by a decrease in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water, or by the appearance of toxic substances in the water.

BFAR exec debunks fishkill in Dagupan (2015, October 25). The Philippine Star, p. B-4.