General Santos makes bid for largest fish display record

FRESHLY caught tuna are on display in a section of General Santos Fish Port Complex, as the city makes a bid for the world record for largest fish display. RUSSEL DELVO/CONTRIBUTOR

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—City officials here on Friday said they were ecstatic at the possibility that Guinness World Records would accept the city’s bid for the world record for largest fish display.

The record is currently held by the Netherlands, which managed to put up a display of 4.5 metric tons of fish, according to General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera.

On Thursday, at least 20 fishing vessel operators brought their tuna catch to Market 1 of General Santos Fish Port Complex to participate in the world record bid.

For 15 minutes, the fresh yellow-fin tuna were brought in and piled up on stainless bidding tables before being moved to weighing scales.

Based on the recording done by lawyer Rey Cartojano, the fishing vessel operators who took part in the bid brought in a total of 946 tuna weighing a minimum of 25 kilograms each.

Cartojano said the total weight of all fish put on display at the market reached 33.61 metric tons.

“The figure has an overwhelming 29.11-MT difference with the current world record,” Rivera declared.

But he said it was up to the Guinness World Record body if it would recognize the city’s bid.

Rivera admitted that no Guinness adjudicator was present during the attempt, mainly because it would cost at least P1 million to invite one.

But the executive said he was confident that Guinness World Records would put importance in the documentation  the city government had done, such as photographs and videos, when it makes the declaration.

“These will be sent to the office of Guinness World Records in London,” he said.

“I am happy that we made it through after a lot of scrupulous preparations and adherence to the guidelines set by Guinness World Records,” Rivera said.

“I think that with that, I can finally see GenSan holding the title of largest fish display,” Rivera added.

The city is the acknowledged tuna capital of the Philippines. Tuna has built the city into what it is now, one of the country’s most progressive areas. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao