Thousands of dead #fish wash ashore in #Zamboanga, #Philippines

Thousands of dead fish were washed ashore in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga and suspected to have died from lack or low level of dissolved oxygen.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar has dispatched a team of experts from the Office of the City Agriculturist, Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources and members of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to investigate the fish kill, which occurred late on Wednesday.

Salazar inspected the shorelines and ordered the immediate clean-up of the area, and warned villagers against consuming the dead fish, mostly rabbitfish or spine foot fish locally known as danggit, saying the team of experts were still processing water samples and fish taken from the western coastline.

Residents were prohibited from swimming in areas where the fish kill occurred until these were declared safe.

“The public is advised not to swim or pick dead fish where authorities spotted thousands of dead danggit floating in the waters. The BFAR, through Charlie Repana (technical manager of the Chemistry Unit), has gathered samples of the fish and water for laboratory tests to determine the exact cause of the fish kill,” Salazar said.

Courtesy of manilatimes.net

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