Last October 5, 2008 (Sunday), as a weekly routine, I left for the market with my husband at around 6 a.m.. We always buy fish and vegetables for consumption at the City Public Market. This is because we believe it is where the freshest of fishes are found and also because we think it is still the best source of affordable garden-fresh vegetables.We were, however, unprepared with what we were faced with when we got there. To our utter surprise, we could not find any fresh small tuna fish colloquially known as “barilison”! There were several vendors selling bariles (huge tuna) but were ignored by consumers because the dried-up fish meat displayed nothing else but total staleness.
There was an assortment of milkfish (bangus), tilapia and squid to choose from. But since my husband and I weren’t fond of these available choices, we roved around the fish section several times to ensure we did not miss out any vendor. We failed in our quest for the famous (and our favorite) barilison.
We did get fortunate though to find a small heap of fresh matang-baka/tulay being sold by one vendor. People instantly crowded over to buy and I found myself embroiled in a buying frenzy of some sort. I clearly remember (quite shamefully now) how I ghastly competed with fellow consumers for my own share of the rare matang-baka supply that was available that day! My performance was poor. I was only able to secure 1 kilo of it, can you believe that!
In dismay, I blurted out the following remarks: Is General Santos City still the Tuna Capital of the Philippines? What did we celebrate our recent 10th Tuna Festival for? Was it to rejoice on the dwindling tuna supply? Are there answers to these? Or should we just go find and ask Nemo?…
That day we had fried tulay on our table to go with the sautéed vegetable for lunch.
Up to this minute I can not think past the experience I had in the City Public Market. I can not help but brood over the lack of fresh bariles and barilison for local consumption that particular Sunday. I sure want to remain positive about the situation and think of it as just weather-related and temporary. I refuse to think beyond.
3 comments:
Small and big tuna are usually downloaded at the Fishport early in the morning until 8am. They are delivered to the GenSan public market usually by mid-morning.
You were just too early. :)
By the way, are you not joining the MBS2? :)
And yes, thanks for linking my blog Bariles Republic here.
Hi Kuya Avel...thanks for the invite...I was really planning to join the MBS2 to learn more as a newbie blogger. Kaso I already had previous commitments on the wknd of the blogging conference schedule. Lagot gani ko. ;) Don't worry, I will definitely join next year. ;p
I enjoy reading BarilesRepublic. Keep writing.
Swang,
The missing tuna that particular Sunday may not be a portent of bad things happening to the tuna industry. Naudtuhan lang ka gamay basi naa na to.
The tuna industry however has to continually monitor stresses that are being inflicted on the resource (tuna and tuna-like) para ma-sustain ang production. Fluctuating total production the last decades (municipal and commercial; local, region and worldwide) is an indication that the exploitation of the marine resource (including tuna) is nearing the optimal levels. (Ang usa ka taga-Gensan maka-observe gyud nga ang tuna sa unang panahon mas dagko kaysa sa mga tuna karon). Factors like larger boats (in size and number), longer fishing periods, more "efficient" gears, absence of quotas, destruction of habitats, etc. are the culprits.
These factors have already been identified and acknowledged by the industry stakeholders including policy-makers. Kinahanglan na lang mag-istorya ug magkahi-usa sa framework and action for a sound resource management (which is the most difficult thing to do incidentally, hehehe).
They usually have the Tuna Congress held annually coinciding with the Tuna Festival. I am hopeful sustainability issues are continually tackled in such forums.
Anyway, kung wala nay bariles, naa may Bariles Republic, thanks to Sir Avelman. :)
Post a Comment