‘El Niño, a Coral Killer’

Authorities in Central Visayas said the El Niño phenomenon is a ‘big killer’ of sea corals.

William Jatulan of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-7 said that sea corals will not survive during El Niño where the sun’s temperature is very high. He said once the sun’s heat hits the corals, the latter will turn whitish in color which means they are already lifeless.

“This is a natural death brought about by a natural disaster, as against any man-made cause death”, Jatulan said.

Jatulan and his companions are very vocal on their warning to all illegal fishers who intentionally destroy the coral reefs.

Melissa Cabahug also from BFAR said the corals are just the same to man’s house, the moment this will be destroyed through manual or natural means, man’s big problem could not be avoided.

Jatulan said that once the corals are dead, fishes and other living sea organisms who used to live there will move away to find another area where they could survive peacefully. This is one of the reasons behind the scarcity of marine products in the northern part of Cebu province.

“The dwindling of sea resources in those areas were now being felt by most of the fishermen’s families in Bantayan islands,” he said.

Jatulan said they are disseminating now the information regarding the proper care of sea corals in every area. He added that intentional destruction of corals means “you no longer need the marine products to survive in your area.”

Jatulan also echoed his warning against fishermen who use fishing paraphernalia that will aggravate sea coral’s life.

“By allowing corals to die means they also want their children to die in the future”, Jatulan said.