Freshly harvested milkfish are sold at Dagupan City market. —WILLIE LOMIBAO
SUAL, PANGASINAN—If you’re having a meal of bangus (milkfish), chances are the fish came from the waters off this western Pangasinan town.
After all, this town produces an average of 60 tons of bangus daily. That means 60,000 kilograms or 120,000 pieces of bangus (at 500 grams each) are harvested from cages located in Cabalitian Bay in the Lingayen Gulf. And at P100 a kg, aquaculture operators can sell up to P6 million worth of bangus during harvest season.
The town’s bangus production is twice that of the combined output from the towns of Anda and Bolinao, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
The two towns, where the fish cage industry started, share the Kakiputan Channel which serves as their main production area.
Pangasinan produces 23 percent of bangus supply in the country and more than 90 percent in the Ilocos region, said Nestor Domenden, BFAR Ilocos regional director.
Bigger production
The production area is concentrated in the western towns of the province and the produce is sold in Navotas and Malabon in Metro Manila and in Dagupan City.
Sual’s production is higher than that of Dagupan, where 900 hectares of ponds are devoted to bangus.
A hectare of fishpond can be stocked with only 8,000 to 10,000 fingerlings, said pond operator Eduardo Maramba.
A fish cage, measuring 18 meters in diameter, on the other hand, can carry from 45,000 to 50,000 fingerlings, local operators said.
Sual supplies 30 percent of Metro Manila’s bangus, Mayor Roberto Arcinue said.