Tuesday, October 16, 2007 Saving Cagayan de Oro's Best: The 'pigok By Arnil C. Emata, Ph.D.
(First of two parts)
THE mighty river flows through the heart of the Cagayan de Oro City named by its early settlers as Kalambagohan, "a vernacular word that refers to a place by the river where lush lambago trees grew abundantly."
Lambago (Hibiscus tiliaceus) belongs to the Family Malvaceae that only thrives in low altitude areas such as seashores, riverbanks and areas reached by tidal streams.
For several centuries, the river was home to about 13 commercial fish species and several crustaceans.
Among the fishes, pigok (Mesocriptes cancellatus) is the most popular and sought after due to its excellent meat taste and roe which stands out better than the caviar of the world's famous sturgeon fish.
Thus for Cagayanon's pigok is a delicacy and more than just a household name.
The pigok (it's called pigek in Cotabato City) is a member of the Family
Theraponidae, a group of 5 species commonly called the grunts.
Pigok is found in many freshwater bodies not only in the Philippines but also in the Indo-Pacific Region.
The fish is characterized by a slightly compressed body, thick and fleshy lips, and silvery in color.
Four prominent vertical bands are found at the dorsal part of the body while near ventral part has several small bands, that look like broken lines.
A pigok breeder freshly caught from Tagoloan river can be domesticated for the breeding program.
But pigok may almost have seen the best of its time. Overfishing, degradation of the river, and increase in urban population in Cagayan de Oro City may have brought a decline in the catch of pigok nowadays.
One would be lucky enough to see a pigok in the city markets.
Any catch (which normally is not big enough, a few pieces) easily goes to the fisherman's favorite customer or suki, who would not hesitate to pay the exorbitant price as long as it ends up it his or his guest's dinner table.
It's not unusual, therefore, for the price of this fish to go up to P1,500 per kilo, a price comparable to that of mameng (Napoleon's wrasse) or senorita (humpback grouper) that are exported to the Hongkong live reef-fish market.
Compounding the fish's threat to extinction is that most if not all of the fish caught are sexually mature.
While the ovaries may have been a delicacy as salted roe or guinamos in vernacular, this significantly lessens the chances of recruitment by the species.
This alarming scenario, therefore calls for the conservation of the species to prevent its extinction. There should not be anymore postponement of this action but a call that must be heeded now lest the species will vanish before we know it.
The best option calls for the propagation of species. (To be concluded)
(Arnil C. Emata graduated Summa Cum Laude from Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City and obtained his Ph. D. in Fish Physiology from Louisiana State University, U.S.A. through the Fulbright Scholarship Award. He was formerly a Senior Scientist at the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center in Tigbauan, Iloilo. He can be contacted at 858-7464 or 0917-302-0014.)
