Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon 10 May 09;
Filed Under: Fishing Industry, Environmental Issues, Local authorities
DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines -- Scientists are racing against time to save the delicious but rare ludong (or lurung), the country's most expensive fish, from possible extinction.
Over the years, the ludong population was decimated by unrestrained and unregulated catching during its spawning season, coupled by destruction of its habitats like mangrove forests and watershed areas, and pollution of rivers and lakes, said Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center here.
"The fish is now rare and elusive," Rosario said in a recent interview.
Ludong (Cestraeus plicatilis) is native to the Cagayan River that stretches from Cagayan to Quirino provinces in the Cagayan Valley, and to the Abra River in the Cordilleras.
It is called the "President's Fish" because of its steep price of P4,000 a kilogram, which only the rich can afford.
Rosario said that in 1997, when his office started a study on ludong, the researchers still found the fish sold in abundance in public markets in Cagayan.
"At that time, it was very easy [to find ludong]. Marami-rami pa [It was quite plenty]. But this time, wala [there’s none]. Wala ka nang mahuli [you can't catch one anymore]," Rosario said.
The ludong spawns two to six days a year from October to November. A catadromous fish (one that lives in fresh water but migrates to marine waters to breed), it swims downstream to spawn and then goes upstream to the upper reaches of the Cagayan River to grow in the pools.
In 2003, a 600-gram ludong caught in Aparri, Cagayan, was taken to Rosario's office here. The catch gave hope to scientists researching on the fish.
"We had wanted it to breed in captivity," Rosario said.
But the problem was how to find a mate for the captured ludong. Due to its rarity, Rosario said, they were not able to catch one.
"We even tried to go fishing. Pero, hindi talaga kami makahuli (But we could not catch one)," he said.
He said he even hired the best fishermen in the area and offered a higher price for a live catch that he could use for research purposes.
"And yet, despite that, we did not get anything," he said.
He said the late Tineg town Mayor Clarence Benwaren had been helping him in catching the elusive fish, especially in his town. But in 2002, Benwaren was murdered while attending a wedding in Calauan town, Laguna province.
The only live ludong in captivity died in May in 2008 when Typhoon "Cosme" ripped off the roof of the NIFTDC aquarium and exposed the fish to the elements.
In November 2008, Rosario said, a 750-gram ludong was caught and taken to his office. But it died the following month.
"It could be because of stress -- its migration from upstream. The Cagayan River is about 500 kilometers long," he said.
With the death of the ludong after five years in captivity, the effort to save ludong "is back to square one," he said.
"What I did this year is to create a team that will work on ludong collectively," he said.
The team is composed of limnologists (scientists who study ponds and lakes), biologists, chemists and aquaculturists from the National Fisheries and Development Institute in Quezon City, where Rosario is concurrent executive director.
"So, there are people who will work on the biology, people who will work on profiling of the Cagayan River and then those who will work on collecting the fingerlings because these are really very elusive," he said.
In a paper that he presented in a fishery forum four years ago, Rosario appealed for people's cooperation and participation in the conservation and preservation of the ludong.
"Embarking on this significant endeavor will surely pay dividends that will redound to the preservation of this precious gift that we can proudly present as heritage to generations to come," he said. "This is the mission we must support and be part of."
