The group is converend that it will destroy an industry that produces cheap freshwater fish and stamp out the source of income of people who rely on the aquaculture industry in Laguna de Bay.
The Association of Laguna Lake Fish Producers and Fisher Folks Inc attacked the DENR for killing "the goose that lays the golden eggs", according to a report in the Philippine Star.
The group fears for the jobs of 130,000 to 140,000 fishermen and others employed in the industry.
The group claimed that 30 per cent of the fish consumption in Metro Manila came from Laguna Lake and fish pens and fish cages support other industries, which include the fry, fingerling industry, nets and twines industry and bamboo trucking industry and other businesses in the area.
The group addd that the DENR has not made any provision to replace the 36,000 kilos of fish annually produced by fish cages and fish pens that will be laid to waste by the policy.
The Star report says that the environment Secretary Lito Atienza is pushing for the dismantling of numerous fish pens in Laguna de Bay, which he blames for the massive flooding in areas in Laguna.
He said that due to the illegal structures in the lake, the floodwater could no longer flow to the sea.
Atienza had directed Laguna Lake Development (LLDA) general manager Edgardo Manda to clear the lake of several fish pens since two years ago, the report says.
Fishermen Attack Fish Pen Policy
PHILIPPINES - A group fishermen from Laguna de Bay have hit out at the zero fish pens and fish cages policy of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
