Batanguenos await return of 'tawilis'.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

May 16, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino

TAWILIS, the world's only freshwater her ring and found only in the Taal Lake, is a vanishing species.

Tawilisan in Barangay Bihis in Sta. Teresita town in Batangas used to be the central buying station oftawilis from the fishing village of Saimsim and nearby Agoncillo town. Now, it is just a landmark.

Rogelio Bathan, 55, Saimsim barangay chair, said he and other fishermen used to haul as much as two tons of tawilis from the lake in 1965. But since then first lady Imelda Marcos and the then Bureau of Fisheries dumped thousands of carp fingerlings into the lake in 1970, the tawilis population has slowly diminished.

May is the month of the tawilis in Saimsim, when the fish is abundant in the lake. But up to now, Bathan said he had seen only a few fish.

"Last week, a fisherman caught eight tawilis," Bathan said. "That has so far been the biggest catch these days." Last year, the biggest haul was only 20 kilos.

Tawilisan is now a buying center for tilapia and bangus (milkfish).

"Maybe we should start calling it Tilapiaan, now that only tilapia is (being) sold here," said Angelito Gumapac, 42, Bihis barangay chair.

But even the tilapia and milkfish no longer come from Saimsim. "We buy our fish now from Pulo," Bathan said, "and it is expensive." Pulo is the Taal Volcano island in the middle of the crater lake.

Precious

Gloria Bathan (not related to Rogelio), 50, a fish vendor in Tawilisan, said the herring has been rarely sold in the area.

Sometimes, she would find a fisherman selling as many as 20 tawilis, which she peddles to households for P2 apiece. It is the first fish to be sold out in the morning, she said.

"Like the INQUIRER here, you can no longer buy tawilis beyond 8 a.m.," she said.

Ernesto Martija, 34, a tawilis vendor from Balete town, said the fish catch started to dwindle in 1997.

"Now, the tawilis in Balete is as precious as gold," Martija said. "Back in 1996, we could buy freshtawilis for P50 a kilogram, but now the price has tripled and quadrupled."

These days, the tawilis, small as it is, is sold at P2 apiece, he said.

The owner of the only restaurant that serves fried or roasted tawilis twice a week, the Rose and Grace Bulalo restaurant in Sto. Tomas town, said the tawilis is now so rare that they have to go as far as Balete, some 40 kilometers away, to buy the fish.

Vanishing

Tawilis (Herrengula sp.) was once abundant in Batangas. Fishing towns around the Taal Lake-which include Sta. Teresita, Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Talisay, Balete, Tanauan and Laurel-enjoyed the biggest bounty of tawilis catch from the lake.

The yellowish fish was up to six inches long, its meat tender and belly oozing with fat. Its bones were so soft that one can gobble up an entire fish-fried, roasted or cooked as sinigang with sampaloc or kalamyas.

Now, Balete fishermen could catch only a few fish, whose length is only three inches. The meat is tough with no belly fat.

Vilma Mortel, assistant provincial agriculturist based in the capitol in Batangas City, said the vanishing tawilis has been a long-time problem of the province.

"The unconsumed and decomposing fish feeds that settle at the bottom of the lake might have caused the decrease in population. But we're still studying it," Mortel said.

"We have started regulating (fishing activities) and we have already minimized the construction of fish cages in the Taal Lake."

Since the fish culture trend in the early '90s, more fish cages have been constructed in the lake, contributing to the gradual disappearance of the fish, he said.

Only 10 percent of the lake area is designated for fish cages, but some owners constructed pens even in areas that were declared fish sanctuaries.

"We have coordinated with local government units to stop (the construction of) those illegal fish cages," said provincial agriculturist Virgilio Mercado.

Since their office imposed the restriction, operations of 30 percent of the illegal fish cages have stopped, he said.

The fish cages along the Pansipit River have also blocked other herrings such as the dumpilas and manamse, which used to migrate from the Balayan Bay, passing through the river, to breed in the Taal Lake.

Since the bigger herrings could not breed with the tawilis, the latter began in-breeding, resulting in a smaller, tough-skinned and white freshwater species that have replaced what used to be Batangas' pride.

Illegal fishing

Sta. Teresita Mayor Adordito Ginete said he was trying to prevent the total extinction of the tawilis.

"The problem is illegal fishing." Ginete said, "Our fishermen use nets that can catch even the smalltawilis."

Gov. Hermilando Mandanas said a "Sagip Tawilis Movement" has been formed, involving the provincial and the local government units.

On March 6, a meeting was held among leaders of the movement, concerned government officials, fish cage operators and representatives of municipal agricultural offices of towns around the lake.

Mandanas ordered the revocation of business permits of big fish cages operators and financiers to protect the small fish cage owners, and the strict implementation of the campaign against illegal fishing.

Eddie Medina, 51, of Tawilisan said the tawilis has slowly vanished since 1970 when Mrs. Marcos and the then Bureau of Fisheries dumped thousands of carp fingerlings into the lake.

"The carps started eating the tawilis," Medina said. "Even if the carps of Imelda grew as much as 10 kilos each, our tawilis catch became less and less."

What remained of the giant carps are now called karpita or small carps that are only as long as six inches.

Climate

Mercado said the changing climate and temperature of the Taal Lake have also contributed to the vanishing tawilis.

"When the water is cool on the surface and hot at the bottom, the tawilis can't survive the drastic change.

"Also, overpopulation in the fishing villages didn't allow for the tawilis to grow and breed," Mercado said.

The tawilis, unlike tilapia and bangus, cannot be artificially bred as they die immediately once they are out of the water.

"With the tawilis, we have to wait until they breed naturally. They cannot survive artificial breeding," Mercado said.

"For now, we have coordinated with the town mayors to implement our drive to stop illegal fishers and to rid the Pansipit River of fish cages. But for now, we have to wait. And it will be a long wait."