Revived river runs through Dagupan

Cruising on the rehabilitated Dagupan River

The bangus (milkfish), touted as the national fish and the best of its kind in the world, is a given in the life and history of Dagupan City, Pangasinan. What is hardly known is the city has more to offer than traditional bokayo (sticky candy made of coconut strips) and bagoong (shrimp paste).

Mayor Benjamin Lim, who has rallied councilors and their constituents to his call of “Our City, Our Shared Responsibility,” says the city now boasts of the Dagupan River Cruise. Offered free, it is the first and only such cruise in Region 1.

It is proof of how he successfully applied political will and his corporate training in making fish pen owners realize how a rehabilitated river will benefit all in the long term. Once the city’s lifeblood, the river became an eyesore with a thick, milky brown color. The overcrowded fish pens and illegal shanties built on it contributed to a near ecological disaster called fish kill.

Today, there is a modest pier called Daungan Ed Dawel to mean “Dockyard of the World” with a tall white top open to all sides to allow the breeze in. The ferry takes the tourist up and down a clear running river that is about 1.5 kilometers long, with a depth of eight feet at low tide and 12 feet at high tide.

On the both sides of the riverbank stand mangroves young (five years old) and old (65 years old and above) that protect marine life. Tour guide Ed Caballero said the fallen leaves of these trees are left where they are to serve as fish food.

Fresh catch from the river

Two-dimensional bangus art on P. Burgos street

The dismantling of fish pens has allowed high-value fish apart from the bangus to return, thrive and swim in the river’s depths: lapu-lapu, talakitok, malaga, pompano. Juicy crabs abound and are caught by small-scale fishing from their banca or small boats and offered for sale at a reasonable price without a middle man interceding.

The Philippines has 48 mangrove species, 14 of them found in Dagupan, including rare ones endemic to the place. Ana Louise Velasco, city information officer, does not want to specify the names of unusual trees’ names for fear of poachers uprooting them.

Young mangroves by the riverbank

Twenty kinds of migratory birds have also been seen flying over the river and mangroves.

There are kayaks that will be ready for use soon for those who like water sports. Coming soon are paddle boats and river taxis, the latter if one prefers to get to a destination while skipping the downtown gridlock during peak hours.

The ferry boat is modest enough to accommodate private parties of up to 30 people. The host brings in the caterer while the city’s tourism office provides chairs and tables.

Velasco said when she had visiting relatives from elsewhere, especially balikbayans, she used to be at a loss where else to bring them after they’ve eaten bangus to their heart’s content.

Dagupan’s bangus is distinguished by its narrow mouth, bigger belly and smaller fin that are all cause by its swimming in a small area and its fin hitting the bottom of the pond. Nonetheless, Velasco said, everything can be eaten, including the innards, when freshly caught and fried.

When the river cruise began three years ago, the raves poured in from visitors north and south of the country.

BFAR's Westly Rosario

 Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the local office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, saw a lot of good from the return of fauna, a sure sign that the river is alive. This development also means alternative livelihood for those whose shanties were removed.

Lim said displaced folk got seed money to start organic hog farming with pigs fed pro-biotics, not antibiotics, to make the taste of the local lechon competitive to Cebu’s and not too heavy in cholesterol.

Kilawing talaba

 Rosario’s office is developing different ways to prepare and bottle oysters and other shellfish. These clean up the marine environment by harvesting micro-organisms like planktons that once led to yearly occurrences of red tide and fish kill.

He gave this example of shellfish’s “cleaning power”: in a tank with 16 tons of greenish water that indicate the presence of a high number of phytoplankton, put in two sacks or even eight big cans of mussels. In 24 hours the water will turn as transparent as drinking water.

Rosario said these shellfish can later be turned into food and livelihood for marginal fishermen. This type of seafood has medicinal values and anti-inflammatory substances. BFAR is testing the overseas and local markets for tahong (mussels) cooked a number of ways: adobo, pickled, smoked or steeped in brine.--Text and photos by Elizabeth Lolarga

First published by Vera Files and Yahoo Philippines, May 1, 2012.