Aquaculture activities are often blamed for the degradation of water quality of aquatic ecosystem. Present study was conducted to determine the water quality of Taal Lake at two different study sites viz. one under intense fish cage farming activities and the other without aquaculture activities. The study aims to assess the effect of aquaculture activities on selected water quality parameters, which include transparency, temperature, pH, nitrates, phosphates, salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS) and dissolve oxygen (DO). The study was conducted over a ten-month period in 2013-2014. Results of the study revealed no significant differences in water temperature, pH, salinity, transparency and DO between the aquaculture and non-aquaculture sites of the lake, although DO and transparency were consistently lower in the aquaculture sampling stations throughout the 10-month sampling period. DO dipped to critical level (<4 ppm) for aquatic organisms in the months of January and February. Nitrates, phosphates and TDS were significantly higher in the area with fish cage farming activities as compared to the non aquaculture site. Further, the study also reports the efforts of stakeholders to sustain fish cage farming in the lake which include participative, multi-sectoral action planning, information and education, policy formulation, regulation and licensing.

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