Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Regional Director Nestor Domenden assured that this is very likely because as compared to Pampanga and Bulacan, Pangasinan incurred just moderate damage from the floods spawned by back-to-back typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel.”
Records of the BFAR regional office showed the Ilocos Region registered P92-million losses in fisheries, the bulk of which came from Pangasinan, the largest fish-producing province in Northern Luzon.
He said with Central Luzon yet recovering from the floods, Metro Manila would be looking for Pangasinan to supply most of the milkfish that it needs, in the same manner that it is looking for Laguna and Batangas to provide its tilapia needs.
He said bangus producers in Pangasinan must seize the opportunity because with the good price of milkfish at P95 per kilo nowadays in Navotas City, Metro Manila, they can start to recover their losses for the last six months when the price of bangus was virtually on a roller coaster.
At P95 per kilo from P80 per kilo prior to typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel,” it may signal that the bangus industry in Pangasinan will be finally on the road to recovery after suffering a series of setbacks since the month of May.
The price of Pangasinan milkfish dipped up to P60 to P70 per kilo since the massive fish kill broke out between the months of July and August in Bolinao and Anda towns.
This incident was further fanned by the stigma created as a result of the discovery in the market of rotten fish called “fish botcha,” being mixed with good ones, which significantly brought down the demand for bangus.
But Domenden said fish producers must adopt a systematic farm operation to really take advantage of the good price and never harvest at the same time which would again create enough supply in the market that may bring down the prices.
He said fish farmers must unite so that they can schedule their harvesting, adding that producers must harvest based only on the volume which the market can take and not more than that.
Domenden stressed the need to establish the fair price of bangus at a level that will not hurt both the producers, as well as the consumers.
There are two groups of bangus producers from Pangasinan, one from Dagupan and another from the western part of the province.
The Dagupan producers raise bangus in fishponds, while those in western Pangasinan are mostly culturing milkfish in floating fish cages and pens.
The Dagupan producers demand a higher price for their bangus which are a lot tastier and more delectable than those produced in the western part of the province.
