In Photo: Fish in a row
Even before Gensan was known as home of world boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, it was already home to famous tunas, earning the title “Tuna Capital of the Philippines”. As the country’s top tuna producer, its daily catch can surpass any other fish ports in the Philippines combined or not.
And I saw and understood what they meant when we visited the Gensan Fish Port complex, courtesy of our friend Ms Mercy Ong. That one early Wednesday morning, we gained access into the country’s most modern fish port and saw in person volumes of fresh tuna (and marlins) being unloaded, auctioned and processed. Going up on one of the docked boats to see how the “catch for the day” were being unloaded from the huge ice-box at the bottom part of the boat was an experience. The boat I climbed into just got in after two-weeks of sailing/fishing. It’s amazing to see how a “kuya kargador” can single-handedly carry more than 90 kilos of tuna on one shoulder from the slippery boat down to the area where it will be weighed and “graded”.
Now here’s the interesting fact: Whether a tuna will be graded or classified as premium (Class A) or not depends not on any machine or apparatus but on the skill and judgement call of “ate girl” who uses a sharp pointed metal to pierce through the flesh of the tuna. She pokes through several parts of the tuna to get a sample of the meat. The redder the meat, the more premium the tuna. Upon her instruction, a tuna will be tagged accordingly. And that dictates the pricing.
The port is surprisingly clean and organized. It smells fishy but not stinky. You won’t smell the stench of blood because the floor is regularly hosed with water. The port is sectioned by Markets – Market for big fish (tuna and marlins), Market for small fish (matambaka, gg, pirit etc) and Market for other marine catch (like squids, shrimps etc).
You’ll see the different vans/trucks of the buyers standing by, ready to load their “winning catch” for the day. By about 12 noon, most of the catch would have been sold and the port will be quiet…only to be busy again early morning the next day.
After this experience, I will never eat sashimi, kinilaw and panga in the same way again… Fish Be With You!
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