There have been no reported fish kills in the province of Bohol even as some inland fisheries dried up amid hot weather conditions brought by a weak El Niño.

Farmers were able to harvest fish before inland aqua farms dried up, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Bohol officer-in-charge Candido Samijon said.

“Nag-monitor ta, kasagaran naapektuhan kanang inland [fisheries]. Pero pagsugod sa init, pag-gamay sa tubig, ilang gi-harvest,” he added.

Samijon admitted that fish production would slightly drop due to the early harvesting, but noted that freshwater farms only account for a small chunk of the province’s fish supply.

“Medyo maapektuhan ang production nato kay mura’g gi-emergency harvest nila, wa na jud nila paabuta na mangamatay,” he said, adding that some of those harvested were not fully grown.

Bohol’s inland fisheries mostly farm tilapia.

The BFAR meanwhile continued its monitoring to determine if the dry and hot weather affected other inland fisheries across the province.

Last month, the Provincial Agriculture Office in Cebu said that at least 4,900 bangus died in an apparent fish kill, according to a Freeman report.

Authorities however attributed the fish kill to both hot weather conditions and water contamination.

For his part, Leonard Samar of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in Bohol said that the weak El Niño was projected to last until the latter part of June. (Allen Doydora)