Bangus harvest in Roxas City
By Connie Veneracion on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 12:07 am in fish harvest, fish pond, photography, Roxas City, travel
The highlight of our four-day stay in Roxas City a couple of weeks ago was the bangus harvest. Needless to say, it was an experience I will never forget. Neither will my family. Sam says she cannot eat bangus anymore after witnessing what they go through so that we may enjoy them. Food chain, baby. Food chain.
Many, many thanks to our friends PJ and Mabel Juinio for inviting us to spend a few days at PJ’s parents’ house in Roxas City. At last, after years of none-too-serious planning to join them there, it finally happened. Even more thanks to PJ’s parents, Tito Jun and Tita Luz, who were the most gracious hosts ever. May pauwi pang boneless bangus. 
Thanks to them, I now dream of spending our retirement years in a house by the sea.
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- Riding a boat to the fish pond
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- Trees half-surbmerged in water
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- Are those twigs?
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- The length of the fish pond
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- Pulling the net to catch the fish
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- Bangus in the sunlight
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- Find pond workers protect their heads
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- harvesting bangus
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- pulling the net to gather the fish
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- bangus flying above the water
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- Lifting the bangus out of the pond water
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- Heavy nets filled with bangus
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- Net filled with wiggling bangus
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- death bed
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- Netloads of bangus are poured into the vat
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- More bangus are transferred to the vat
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- The vat is almost full
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- Ice blocks are thrown into the vat
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- Bangus dying in icy water
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- Bangus stop wiggling
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- fresh bangus
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- Bangus taking its last breath
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- From the vat to the basket
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- the baskets of bangus are weighed next
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- weighed, ready to transport
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- bangus after the harvest
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- fresh bangus
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- Souvenir photo
Comment by ben
Made Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 10:47 am
Wonderful experience that can only be shown through pictures, Sassy. I think you should have just skipped Boracay and spent a longer time in Roxas, which clearly looked more fulfilling for Sam and Alex.
Comment by Connie Veneracion
Made Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 10:57 am
We all learn from our mistakes, eh, Ben? We’ll try Bohol and Palawan next time. The outbacks. No more hip locations.
Comment by bertN
Made Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 12:15 pm
I finally got a good idea of how bangus is harvested commercially! How big is the fishpond? It looks like a small lake!Are there designated areas in the pond where people can fish with rod and reel for a fee? It did not look like they pack the baskets with ice on their way to the market. How do they keep the bangus fresh all the way to the “end users”?
Sorry, I asked too many questions. Thank you for sharing this series with us. It is very informative to me.
Comment by Connie Veneracion
Made Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 12:22 pm
bertN, I have no idea as to the total area. No fishing. It’s a privately owned fish pond. As to transporting, I didn’t stay long enough for that. But based on how the bangus arrive in the makets, the bangus is NOT transported in those baskets but in metal “banyeras” packed with ice. Those bangus were Iloilo bound, half hour or so by boat.
Comment by ben
Made Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 1:24 pm
Definitely Palawan Sass — when you finally set foot there you will realize how this country has this jewel and frontier unlike any other in all of southeast asia. Puerto Princesa is a literal world heritage site all by itself and will cement your bond with the sea, and next to Roxas probably the only place to eat the freshest, greatest quality seafood in the country. Bohol and Dumaguete should be both high on your must-visit places too.
Comment by ed villanueva
Made Sunday, 6 of April , 2008 at 2:14 pm
Inihaw na bangus is always on my list of must eat whenever I go home,Bonoan bangus from Pangasinan is the best,but lately my mom said bonoan bangus is becoming rare and expensive,hmmmmm…
Comment by Connie Veneracion
Made Sunday, 6 of April , 2008 at 5:28 pm
Ben, yes, Dumaguete. In fact, a friend is marketing the place to help her cousin who is governor or mayor or something there. I hear that real property is cheap while the place is simply gorgeous.
Ed, commercialized is more like it.
Pingback by On the way to the fish pond — Photos from a house on a hill
Made Saturday, 26 of April , 2008 at 9:30 pm
[...] boats are loaded with blocks of ice and other supplies in preparation for a bangus harvest. ← [...]
Pingback by Fresh from the fish pond — Photos from a house on a hill
Made Thursday, 1 of May , 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] holding a milkfish. Taken during the bangus harvest in Roxas City. ← It may look like a [...]
Pingback by Submerged — Photos from a house on a hill
Made Friday, 2 of May , 2008 at 8:27 am
[...] from the boat on the way to the fish pond to witness a bangus harvest in Roxas City. Whether the condition of the trees is the result of the creation of fish ponds, I [...]
Pingback by Grass beside the pond — Photos from a house on a hill
Made Saturday, 3 of May , 2008 at 12:43 am
[...] breeze but there was no breeze. We were waiting for the boat that would take us to the site of the bangus harvest and I was bored and perspiring and feeling like I was losing a gallon of water every minute. So, I [...]
Comment by edel
Made Sunday, 11 of May , 2008 at 2:50 am
pls. send recepe to make relino na bangus.
tnx
ed
Pingback by Should a house have a theme? — House on a hill
Made Monday, 9 of June , 2008 at 9:27 am
[...] When we spent a week in the Visayas a couple of months ago, the last leg of the trip was Roxas City. We have a friend whose parents built their retirement home there and that was where we stayed for three days. Actually, “retirement home” is a bit misleading because my friend’s parents are still very much active with their bangus business. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, they own the fish pond where we witnessed our first bangus harvest. [...]