Limnological features of Lake Buluan: Preliminary findings and observations

Abstract

A limnological survey of Lake Buluan in Mindanao was conducted to evaluate its potentials for fishpen and fish cage culture. The lake was found to be shallow and highly productive, with the major physicochemical and biological parameters within ranges favorable for fish production.

The lake has high gross primary production values attributable to high densities of phytoplankton, primarily blue-green algae. It has a high annual yield of 10,000 mt of fish, which when divided by its area of 6,000 hectares, gives an average production of 1.64 mt/ha/yr - the highest open water catch in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia today.