Five million pesos worth of losses was recorded after a massive fish kill incident hit the fish farms in Ifugao, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said on Friday.

In a radio interview on Friday, Nazario Briguera, BFAR spokesman, said the fish kill incident affected fish cages in Magat Dam at Alfonso Lista from June 22 to 24.

"The value of the losses from the fish kill is around 5 million pesos in losses for our fish cage operators there," he said.

Briguera said due to high temperature the dissolved oxygen level in the dam depleted causing massive deaths among fresh water fish tilapia.

"The reason for this is that because of the heat, the water temperature increased, and this caused the dissolved oxygen level to drop. When this happens in the water, the fish become stressed, which can eventually lead to their death. That is why, even before the incident happened, we had been continuously sharing information advising people, if possible, not to stock too many fish and to avoid overstocking—especially now that temperatures are high," he said.

"BFAR responded promptly because, in situations like these, we advise that when there are already signs indicating the onset of fish kill, an emergency harvest should be carried out. The fish should be harvested immediately. Do not wait for the fish to float to the surface," he added.

Briguera said they also advise operators to "move their fish cages to the deeper part of the dam because, due to the hot weather, the water level in Magat has reportedly dropped significantly." Robina Asido/PHS