Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Fish sales in Oton down to 90%
By Ruby P. Silubrico
OTON Mayor Carina Flores Monday said fishermen's sales on various fish have declined to almost 90 percent since the MT Solar I oil spill started on August 11.
To show that fish in Oton are still safe to eat, fish vendors, local government officials headed by Flores, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Chief Drucila Ong and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center headed by Joseph Toledo, conducted a "boodle fight" inside the Oton public market.
Flores said the activity was one way of showing the public that fish are still good for eating and that they were not affected by the oil slick.
"Several fish vendors approached and told us that their sales were really affected by this oil spill in Guimaras, that's why we came up this activity. We have already asked several persons who can somehow help us because our sales have declined by 90 percent," Flores said.
On the other hand, Ong said that they conducted a series of testing in Nueva Valencia, in the towns of Ajuy, Estancia, Concepcion, Sibuyan Island in Aklan and all were negative of oil spill. "It simple shows that fishes are safe for human consumption."
Meanwhile, Roberto Yleaña, fish vendors' association president, said that all fish vendors are now financially hard up because only few are buying their fish.
"Until we came up this activity to inform the people that the fish we are selling are fresh and healthy," he said.
(September 12, 2006 issue)
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