Taal Lake Likers & Lovers, Let’s Save The Tawilis!

Is the inland fishery of Taal Lake going the way of Laguna Lake? Laguna Lake as a fish world died long ago; today, are the death throes of Taal Lake as a fish universe coming soon?

I was Managing Editor (not the title given) of The ICLARM Newsletter in 1981 even as it published a technical paper that detailed how Laguna Lake was dying. Reading that ICLARM report, I believed that Laguna Lake actually was already dead at that time. Time proved me right.

Now comes the non-technical report by Gaea Katreena Cabico titled “Saving Taal Lake, Preserving The Endemic Tawilis[1]” (31 December 2020, PhilStar.com). Miss Gaea says that in 2018, the International Union for Conservation of Nature “listed the… tawilis as endangered.” In fact, the assessment was made by PH scientists who said the fish harvest has been declining since 1998 “due to wanton fishing, illegal use of active fishing gears, proliferation of fish cages, and deterioration of water quality in the lake.”

Tawilis “endangered.” Over-fishing, illegal fishing, fish-cage fishing have all been contributing to the declining tawilis population and water quality of Taal Lake. Those are the exact same reasons why Laguna Lake died long ago!

I am saying that we could not save Laguna Lake, and there was/is the Laguna Lake Development Authority. We should learn from policy mistakes.

How are we going to save Taal Lake, a very much smaller area, for the precious tawilis, which is, according to experts, the only freshwater sardine in the world!?Last year, Miss Gaea says, the government started enforcing a closed season for tawilis fishing – catching tawilis is now banned in March and April every year, “to allow the endemic fish species to reproduce and replenish (itself with) new stocks.”

Maria Theresa Mutia, Chief of the Freshwater Fisheries Research and Development Center of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, NFRDI, says tawilis spawns in March and April. “What’s happening is they’re caught even before they spawn.” Well, I personally know that a female fish whose belly is full of eggs is delicious to eat! My experience is freshwater, from a tributary of the Agno River in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan. But yes, that’s the danger there.

Miss Gaea’s report, not simply a news story, is long, a total of 2,800 words – but nowhere does it recommend action to conserve this precious fish species. Never heard of the NFRDI before, so googling, I just found out that the NFRDI is under the Department of Agriculture, DA – which means the overall oversight is that of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar. Well then, we can expect more policy action from the DA.

Meanwhile, if I were anywhere near Taal, I would take advantage of the virtual classrooms and try to convince high school students in, around and near Tapal Lake, to discuss among themselves, virtually, what to do for conserving – note, not preserving – the tawilis. If not for the lockdown, I would love to visit Taal Lake and write my fish story, if truth be told.@517


[1]https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/12/31/2067351/saving-taal-lake-preserving-endemic-tawilis?bclid=IwAR2fqrP4NkbxQwbvztweXt6gX8liDMd1iaVWwbn1IrP3rjrC8EffiTj8UDM

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