UPLB-LS successfully conserves endangered tawilis from Taal Lake
News | Alliah Antig
The Limnological Station of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB-LS), headed by Dr. Ma. Vivian C. Camacho, has successfully kept the endangered tawilis away from Taal Lake. The fish was reared and captured alive for several weeks at UPLB-LS.
Tawilis was declared as endangered in January 2019 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “It is a wake-up call for Filipinos,” Dr. Mudjekeewis Santos of the National Academy of Science and Technology stated.
Overfishing, pollution, and predation have caused the fish to a risk of extinction. According to the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development Director Dr. Rafael Guerrero, “The major cause of the drastic decline in the tawilis catch of the fisherfolk in the lake is overfishing, wherein the rate of human exploitation of the fish surpassed the ability of the fish to replenish itself”.
With the recent explosion of Taal Volcano, the water quality of the lake has been altered and placed marine life in danger. The eruption prompted the decline of production of tawilis.
Francisco Torres of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute said that despite the risks and effects posed by the eruption of the Taal volcano, tawilis remains to be a resilient fish. “It could swim away from Taal Volcano and survive so long as the explosions would not last for days,” he added.
A research project entitled “Fish Ark Project for Taal Lake: Direction for Conservation of the Endemic Freshwater Fish Sardinella tawilis” of the UPLB-LS aims to preserve the endangered tawilis should there be a massive eruption in the future.
The recent ex situ captivity set-up of the tawilis which have passed 24 hours is a major breakthrough for the research of UPLB-LS. It is considered a milestone in tawilis conservation leading to further understanding in the field of biology, ecology, and conservation of threatened species.
Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines Founder and Director Dr. Arnel Yaptinchay said that without tawilis, Taal Lake will be unbalanced and less biodiverse.
“More biological and ecological studies should be conducted, especially in culturing the species,” Yaptinchay said.
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