Zamboanga City residents warned not to gather, eat dead fish along boulevard as BFAR investigates fish kill incident

THE ZAMBOANGA City government has advised the public not to gather and eat the thousands of dead rabbitfish, locally referred to as danggit, that were found floating in the waters and washed along the shore of R.T. Lim Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon. In a statement, Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar also advised people not to swim in the area until the cause of the incident is determined and a clearance is issued by the local government. Representatives of the City Agriculture Office, Office Of The City Environment and Natural Resources, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources immediately went to the area on Wednesday to collect water and fish samples for testing. Ms. Salazar said the results were expected by Thursday, but updates were not yet available as of this posting. BFAR’s initial assessment is that the fish kill may have been caused by the dissolved oxygen level given the prevailing dry spell and the sudden downpour earlier this week.