A DECADE AFTER THE ONDOY: A TIMELINE OF THE KNIFE FISH OUTBREAK IN LAGUNA LAKE (2009-2019)

This study deals with the outbreak of the knife fish in the Laguna Lake. It covers the years 2009up to 2019.The main objective of this study is to come up with a timeline based from government reports and meso level accounts regarding one problem faced by the Laguna Lake and its Fisherfolks. According to reports and respondents, theknife fish entered the lake after the typhoon Ondoyin 2009. By 2011 there were significantnumbers of knife fish being caught in the lake, by 2012 their presence was already considered an outbreak and ever since; the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) have implemented several policies to control the outbreak such as; releasing funds for the retrieval of the knife fish,conducting of trainings for value adding of the knife fish, information drives, and building of facilities that will process the knife fish into fish balls, hotdogs, kikiams, burger patties etc. In 2015, The National Students Training Program II (NSTP II) students of UPLB under the College of Arts and Sciences conducted a study entitled Cultural Heritage Mapping of 5 Fisher-folk Communities in Los Baňosand it was evident that still, the major problem of the fisherfolks is the knife fish outbreak.In March 2019 another interview was conducted in San Antonio Bay by Card-MRI Development Institute (CMDI) students and the presence of the knife fish was still alarming. Furthermore, according to the respondents fishing is no longer their main source of livelihood.