NEWSFLASH

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CORDILLERA DEVELOPING LAKES' POTENTIALS

Mt. Province, Feb. 27, 1998 - Mountain fishing could be the next tourist attraction in the Cordilleras.

Researchers at the Cordillera Administrative Region's agriculture department are recommending the full development of a number of inland bodies of water in the Northern Luzon highlands.

Abegail Ramos, who conducted exhaustive studies on the region's resources and vast potentials, said Mt. Province alone has 12 small lakes that could provide enough food for the population as well as serve to attract outsiders to visit the area.

Ramos and four of her colleagues studied Lake Gawaan, Lake Lenneng and Lake Danum. Mountain Province alone has 1,074 hectares of lakes, with an average production of 32 tons of fish per year.

Aside from the tilapia, other species that survive in the highlands are mudfish, catfish, eel, shrimp, snails and crabs.

Aquaculture experts have recommended the restoration of the lakes' ecological balance through conservation and prudent utilization measures. They warned against wanton introduction of foreign species of fish which could upset the environmental make-up of the lakes.

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