The prolonged dry spell that is triggering power and water shortages throughout the country is beginning to take its toll on vegetable, fish and livestock farms and on the rice and corn crops in certain regions. In Ifugao and Isabela, dead tilapia could be seen floating in fish pens, cages and ponds in the first incidences of “fish kill” as the worst of the El Niño sets in. Fishermen in Ifugao province said they have lost about 30 tons of tilapia in fish cages and pens along the Magat River as water levels there have started to drop.

Dry spell killing tilapia in Ifugao, Isabela fish pens. (2010, February 27). Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A6.