‘There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?’ – Robert Kennedy. The order of the President to dismantle the big fish pens in Laguna de Bay while welcome to the ears of the thousands of fishermen in the lakeshore towns of Rizal and Laguna who depend on the open waters of the lake for their livelihood as well as to environmentalists who perceive aquaculture as spoiler of the environment raises a basic question on the place of aquaculture in our future. We hope the order of the President was meant to merely regulate fish culture and not eliminate altogether all the fish pens and fish cages in the lake which supplies a significant source of the fish needs of Metro Manila. That will be unwise and myopic as this will adversely impact on the future of aquaculture upon which we have to increasingly rely for our fish needs as capture fisheries decline and stagnate over time with overexploitation.

Javier, E. Q. (2017, February 18). What to do with the fish pens in Laguna de Bay. Manila Bulletin, p. B-2.