Thursday, April 03, 2008 Balingasag 'bangus' getting popular in CdeO
BANGUS grown in marine fish cages from the mariculture park in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, known for being mud-odor free, shiny and tasty, is getting popular in Cagayan de Oro.
In a market matching/forum on bangus conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Northern Mindanao, a representative of a big supermarket in Cagayan de Oro City revealed that their customers like bangus from marine fish cages because it tastes better than those from ponds. A hotel representative also said that foreigners appreciate the taste of bangus raised in marine waters.
However, at present, bangus produced from the mariculture park cannot meet the local market demand.
According to Rodrigo Basallo, a bangus grower in the mariculture park, the local market is experiencing shortage of bangus supply. The bangus he sells in an outlet in Cagayan de Oro City is sold in just one day. His customers prefer bangus grown in marine water to bangus from fishponds even though there is a price difference of P20-P25 per kilo.
The mariculture park in Balingasag when fully developed will have a total of about 500 cages, which can produce about 2,250 metric tons of bangus in just one cropping. From its harvest in June of last year up o end of March this year, the mariculture park's production already reached 100 metric tons and was marketed only locally.
Aside from bangus production, BFAR is also supervising the construction of a multi-species processing plant in Balingasag, which mainly caters to tilapia fillet production.
The tilapia processing plant is expected to produce 40 metric tons of tilapia fillet every month.
The operation of the plant will then make Northern Mindanao the tilapia fillet capital of the country.
It was learned that the Philippines accounts for seven percent of the world's tilapia production.
Aside from processing tilapia fillet, the plant will also convert tilapia entrails into feeds.
In an interview earlier, BFAR-Northern Mindanao Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division officer-in-charge Venancio Hilomen said that most of the tilapia production will go directly to local markets.
He said whatever will be processed at the Misamis Oriental tilapia fillet processing plant goes directly to Philippine hospitality industries, such as five-star hotels, restaurants and beach resorts, as well as to grocery chains like SM and Makro and fastfood chains like McDonald's, KFC, Jollibee and Chowking.
"But there definitely is a market for tilapia overseas and most of our exports go to the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The prevailing price for frozen tilapia fillet in the market is $4 a kilogram," Hilomen was quick to add. (With reports from Mark D. Francisco)
