liboy182001

[liboy182001]

Roxas City: The Seafood Capital of the Philippines

by Richard Collett

We’ve got the funk’ is loudly playing in the background, as the fish farmers ready their nets on the side of the wooden jetty.

‘We’ve got the fish’, would be more appropriate, but it’s still a strangely fitting song to hear, as the fishermen wade out into the water, and in a well practised, synchronised routine begin to herd the fish towards their nets.

It’s almost mesmerising to watch as the fish begin thrashing around in the shallow water, as the nets draw around them.

This was the daily scene at the Siguin Fish Farm, just one of the many fish farms that make up the huge fishing industry on the Filipino island of Panay. It’s this huge fish cultivation tradition that has led to the city of Roxas being crowned the Seafood Capital of the Philippines.

And I was about to get stuck right in.

Fish and the Philippines

Fish is big business in the Philippines. This is an archipelago of well over 7000 islands, with thousands upon thousands of miles of coastline.

The waters are some of the most biodiverse in the world, being home to everything from whale sharks and turtles to milkfish and sardines.

It’s no wonder then, that the Filipino culinary tradition is closely aligned with the food that can be sourced from the oceans. But with an ever increasing population, as with everywhere else in the world, those once vast fish stocks are of course declining.

But rather than keep taking from the oceans, the fishermen of Roxas began a more sustainable practice, and you can find countless fish farms arrayed along the waterways, lagoons and coastline of the city’s surrounds

The Seafood Capital of the Philippines

The feast is prepared at the fish farm, with the freshly caught Bangus being filleted and grilled by the edge of the water.

But there’s more than just Bangus, and I quickly start to realise that perhaps the title of Seafood Capital of the Philippines, is really rather apt for Roxas City.

Laid out Boodle Fight style are a huge range of dishes. Fish cooked in a coconut broth, fish steamed in banana leaves, fish simply grilled on the open coals.

Then there are the oysters, the stuffed squid, the mussels and of course, piles upon piles of prawns and crabs.

The rich fishing grounds here provide an abundance of seafood to Roxas City, but of course, the farmers and fishermen will need to be ever so careful of how they protect that abundance, to ensure its safety for the future.