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A
few weeks ago, we have been writing about the sky rocketing
prices of fish in Jagna. During that time, the condition was
not confined to Jagna alone but also in other towns and in
Tagbilaran City. While we were grumbling about the P120 per
kilo of the Pacific mackerel or mangko or tulingan, reliable
sources say that it reached up to P150 per in Tagbilaran.
We say, Jagna, di ka nadiisa.
There
was a time when the mangko prices hit P2 in the Tagbilaran
causeway and there were few takers. That was years ago. Purse
seine fishing boats sweeping seas around and beyond Bohol
dumped their catch in the causeway and was forced to sell
them at giveaway prices just to dispose of them. However,
constant operations depleted the fish population that caused
the fish prices to orbit.
Malthusian
theory put the law of supply and demand into action. Jagna,
like the rest of coastal towns in Bohol, is dependent on fish
and other marine products for their protein requirements on
their diet. Backyard livestock provided a break of the dietary
monotony but that was on special occasions like when a chicken
or a pig meets a traffic accident or dies in a fiesta celebration.
When
Jagna population was a third of what it is now, near shore
and shallow water fishes filled up that need. Blue water fishes
provided a bonus. Even in bad weather, which lasted for a
few weeks, the near shore fishes could be available.
Or
even if monsoon winds extend their allocated stay, supplies
of buwad and ginamus can take up the slack. Bamboo fish traps
called bungsod and baling or sahid, dragnets of you like,
provide the volume of the catch.
When
the population reached its present size, the near shore resources
can no longer cope up with the demand. While the double nets
massacred the shallow water species, mechanized fishing swept
the blue waters clean of pelagic species.
Even
the trash fishes like the pangan - no relation to Chekito
- the ibis, pata and moong find their way to the frying pan,
cooking pot or kinilaw dishes. The lowly Tagalog galonggong,
or Visayan tabudlos or round-bodied scad, which glamorized
name is GG enjoyed premium prices.
The
milkfish or bangos, which true blue fishing families look
upon with disdain found acceptance, thanks to expats, who
acquired the taste for it in their stay in highly urbanized
areas. The tilapia, which no Jagnaanon would dare to touch,
had been found in the fish stalls of the Jagna Public Market.
Somebody must have bought them since it disappeared before
closing time. Someone must have been hungry enough to eat
a horse, so the saying goes, except horses are not available.
Since
there are not enough crustaceans, mollusks or marine snails
to fill up the protein slack, a change of diet may be in order.
Poultry and swine are omnivorous; they would compete with
humans for greens grains and animal or fish protein.
Backyard
livestock will have to be reserved for special occasions and
traffic accidents. Never invite a guest, whose dietary preference
is in established. He might complain being served a garden
for dinner.
The
only livestock, which will not eat its way into the human
food supply, are the ruminants and other grass eating stock.
Raising large cattle is out of the question.
One
cannot carve out a steak without buying the whole cow. Goats
and rabbits would fit the bill. Hungry goats would eat everything
even your pants if you are not careful but they need an extensive
pasture. Prepare to make enemies out of your neighbors. If
one is not averse having Bugs Bunny for dinner, then raise
rabbits. Or even Mickey Mouse just to escape high fish prices.
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