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The offices of the Department of Health and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Western Visayas have not issued an advisory warning residents that fish caught in Antique waters are unsafe for human consumption
Claim: It is unsafe to consume fish caught in Sebaste, Antique, and its nearby coastal waters.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post making the claim — originally posted on Sunday, September 15 — has amassed over 5,900 shares, as of writing. The likes garnered by the post are hidden by the account holder.
The post, written in Filipino, showed photos of the tombs at Aguila Public Cemetery at Sebaste, Antique, that were destroyed by the force of the sea.
It particularly raised a concern that the bodies from the grave might have been touched or consumed by the fish. Facebook users who shared the post believe that eating fish caught in the area is therefore unsafe.
The facts: The offices of the Department of Health and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Western Visayas have not issued an advisory warning residents that fish caught in Antique waters are not safe for human consumption.
The heavy rain and strong winds in Antique over the weekend caused significant damage to the cemetery located in the coastal area of Barangay Aguila, with portions of it eroded and some tombs visibly sinking due to the strong impact of waves.
Theoretically, fish are classified according to their feeding behavior: surface feeders and bottom feeders.
A marine biosciences expert in an interview said surface feeders or those that are commercially available are safe to eat since they feed on insects, plankton, and algae. They are also migratory and are able to find suitable breeding grounds and feeding areas, or to escape from unfavorable environmental conditions.
Meanwhile, bottom feeders do not feed on the surface, hence they are less likely to consume floating cadavers or any other floating matter.
BFAR, during a capsized passenger vessel incident in Romblon in 2008, pointed out that bottom feeders could not feed on dead bodies of animals and humans since these float in the water after some time.
Another Facebook user reposted the now-deleted post of The Gibonian Publication, a community publication in Nabas, Aklan, which advised the public to temporarily refrain from purchasing fish. The reposted post has 26 likes and 119 shares as of writing.
The Gibonian Publication deleted the advisory on September 16 and has since then apologized for the lack of proper sourcing from authorities.
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– Rjay Zuriaga Castor/Rappler.com
Rjay Zuriaga Castor is a 2024 Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow. He is a reporter of The Daily Guardian, an Iloilo-based newspaper.
