Thursday, September 21, 2006
P32.8M estimated annual loss from Guimaras oil spill
By Jimmy P. Abayon
RESEARCHERS from Silliman University reported that the environmental havoc caused by the Guimaras oil spill would mean an estimated potential annual loss of P32.8 million from fish products owing to damaged mangroves, wood products, and seagrass-based fishery products.
The estimate is contained in a report submitted by a 24-member research team from Silliman University that made a rapid assessment of the effects of the bunker oil spill caused by the sinking of the tanker M/T Solar I off the coast of Guimaras Island on August 11.
The team, led by international marine scientist and former environment secretary Dr. Angel Alcala, said the oil spill has already contaminated the coastal ecosystems like mangroves and beaches of southern Guimaras and associated islands and some areas of eastern Iloilo province.
The contamination, said the team's report, has swept 184 kilometers of coastline, 1,141 hectares of mangrove ecosystem, 88 hectares of seagrass beds in Guimaras province, and 4.5 kilometers of coastline and 38 hectares of mangroves in Iloilo province.
However, it said, although coral reefs were not found to be visibly affected, the long term effects must be looked into.
The team reported that the long-terms effects on the coral reefs were "not obvious."
But it placed the potential annual losses from a good reef to be as high as 15-20 tons of fish per square kilometer valued at US$15,000-US$20,000.
Other direct benefits as well as indirect benefits were not given monetary values.
As of September 13, there were reportedly signs of stress on corals apparently in response to oil components dissolved in water, the SU report said.
With the coverage of the bunker oil spill, the team estimated the damaged ecosystems based on potential direct use values such as fisheries, indirect values such as tourism, and non-use values such as biodiversity.
It estimated at P15 million the cost needed to rehabilitate the damaged mangrove ecosystems. Seagrasses, the report said, could recover more quickly than mangroves because of their underground rhizomes or thickened stems, and high growth rates.
Seagrass replantation is not an option, it further said.
The report, quoting the Provincial Government of Guimaras, said the oil spill has affected the livelihood of a total of 3,343 fishermen.
It said that based on interviews with 100 fisher families in Unisan island who were all dependent on fishing for their livelihood, the potential annual reef catch was estimated to have a gross value of P144,000 per fisherman.
Brackish water fishery from 385 hectares of fishponds reportedly affected would amount to P110,000 per hectare.
The report stressed that although the research was funded by Petron, it was conducted as an independent, academic, and scientific activity.
The results of the assessment have been publicly presented in various forums.
The research team from SU was composed of Dr. Hilconida Calumpong, director of the SU Marine Laboratory (SUML), Dr. Janet Estacion, assistant director of SUML, Dr. Lourdes Ursos, head of the public health department of SU Medical Center Foundation, Inc., Prof. Roy de Leon, Edna Sabater, Adonis Floren, Melchor Cerdana, Clarissa Reboton, Jacinta Lucanas, Pablina Cadiz, Amida Diwata Macansantos, Tenee Paalan, Rio Naguit, Analisa Escobar, and Atty. Mikhael Lee Maxino.
(September 21, 2006 issue)
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