'Boodle fight' proves Dagupan bangus safe to eat

Dagupan City. The City Mayor’s Office and City Agriculture Office of Dagupan City spearheaded a ‘boodle fight’ Monday in front of the City Hall to prove that the Dagupan bangus is safe to eat in the wake of massive fishkill which plagued western Pangasinan and greatly affected the local aquaculture market. Around one hundred pieces of grilled sumptuous Dagupan bangus were eaten by city officials, local mediamen and other Dagupeños on Monday afternoon.

An estimated 190 million pesos in total fish value was lost as a result of the fishkill in both Batangas and Pangasinan according to a report.

However, contrary to national reports which mistakenly tagged Dagupan as one of the areas where the aquatic disaster occurred, no fishkill happened in Dagupan City, according to City Agriculture chief Emma Molina..

Bangus producers from western Pangasinan who wanted to cut their losses tried to sell tangok (in Pangasinan language) or ‘double dead’ fish in Dagupan’s Magsaysay fish market. Several truckloads of bangus ‘botcha’ were accosted by authorities last week in Dagupan City. Some unscrupulous producers and vendors even tried to pass off the double dead fish as fresh by putting red jobos or dye in the fishes’ pale gills and stomach.

Dagupan city was spared from the devastating massive fishkill because of Mayor Benjamin S. Lim’s priority environmental project “Ilog Ko, Bilayen Ko” which prohibited and dismantled all fish pens and other illegal structures along the seven rivers of the city. This endeavor allowed the main river tributaries to breathe again.