Senator calls for laws to control janitor fish

Janitor fish species, which are kept to keep aquariums clean, have reportedly threatened the survival of Philippine fishes, prompting a senator to take action regarding the matter.

Senator Manuel Villar Jr. has filed a resolution directing the Senate committee on the environment to look into the detrimental effects brought by invasive fish species on local fish.

Foreign fish pose a major ecological threat to local freshwater species, he said, blaming irresponsible pet owners who buy imported fish and throw them away when their interest wanes. Considered as a hardy breed of fish, janitor fish are kept because of their ability to clean algae in aquariums.

He said this has caused "the speedy spread and reproduction of alien species, turning them into primary predators."

Among these invasive species is the suckermouth catfish or janitor fish, which Agence France-Presse reported last week, have multiplied faster than local fish and have altered the ecosystem.

An Asean Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation report in 2002 also cited the white goby and hypseleotries agilis, which killed most of 15 local fish species in Lanao Lake in Mindanao.

The black bass has also caused the disappearance of the endemic fish population of Caliraya Lake in Laguna province, the report said.

Villar said the Philippines, as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, must come up with measures to protect local wildlife.

"Biological diversity is a key issue in the Philippines because it is known as one of the 17 mega-biodiversity countries of the world with more than 52,177 described species, of which, more than half are found only in this country," he said.

If left unchecked, he said, the invasive fish will wipe out local species and destroy the diversity of the ecosystem.

(Sunnex)