Water and Soil Analyses of Balongis Fish Cage and Oster (Talaba) Farms in Concepcion River, Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay Province, Philippines

The decline of the talaba (saccosrea malabonensis) production in Barangay Concepcion, Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay motivated the fisher folks to determine the cause of the phenomenon through the Social Action Ministry (SAM) – Diocese of Ipil, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay,Philippines who arranged for the conduct of the study. The research was hypothesized to be caused by climate change. Data collection began on January 28 until February 8, 2012 on site. Twelve (12) sampling sites were installed in Concepcion River barangay Balongis, Buayan Zamboanga Sibugay where the barangay’s fish cage and oyster (Talaba) farms are Global Positioning System (GPS) gadget was used for the identification/markings of sampling stations (07

⁰46.00 N and 122 ⁰47.116E to 07 ⁰45.778 N and 122

⁰47.151 E) Water and soil/sediment samples were taken and analyzed once a week for three consecutive weeks – January 28 to February 18, 2012. Physical water parameters were taken in situ (pH, Temperature, salinity and TSS). Water temperature raging 24 ⁰C-31.5 ⁰C, water pH 7.0-8.24, water salinity 18 -27.6 ppt. Total Suspended Solids (TSS) ranged 0.104 g/L to 0.672 g/L – classified turbid water for all sampling sites. Sediment analysis: for mercury containment – qualitative analysis is negative, Soil Classification using the Textual triangle – soil classified as Loamy Sand (Sites 7-10) and Sandy Loam for all other sites. Meiofauna component using the Nematoma, turbellaria, Ciliophora, Ostracoda, Gastrotricha, Tardigrada, Sarcomastigaphora, Sincarida, Copepoda and some other unidentified fauna. Sedimentation rate averaged from 1410-6469 g/m2 per week. The high sediment rate could have caused the decline in oyster production but not by mercury contamination as suspected.

Keywords – saccosrea malabonensis, water parameters Water and soil/sediment