TAMBAN (sardines) crisis hit the coastal barangays of Cagayan de Oro City that rely heavily on the abundance of this so-called ‘pangmasa’ sea richness for day-to-day survival.
But the surprise influx of ‘hipon’ (small beady-eyed) eventually saved the families of fishermen along the Macajalar bay from getting hungry.
On Tuesday morning alone, around 100 squared styrofoam boxes of the worm-like-looking hipon were docked off the shores of Barangay Bonbon, after a night-long catch of it somewhere in the seawaters of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
The most considerable bulk of the two-night harvest was from the boats associated with the Pactolerin siblings (Tokan and Sherwin) from Zone 4 Baybay of said barangay.
Laborer Esteban Oguimas shared that Tokan’s first 30-foam jackpot on Sunday night was sold at P6,000 each.
“Our catch on Monday night mostly from Sherwin’s boats were too many that they sold it at only P4,000 to P5,000 per foam to regular contacts from established market buyers,” said Islaw Timkang.
Timkang and some fishermen from Barangay Bayabas, who didn’t have the appropriate fishing nets to catch the too-small to handle ‘hipon,’ offered help to the well-equipped Pactolerins on Monday night.
In return, they gave them some eight foams from their bountiful blessings which Timkang and company have peddled on the streets at P80 to P100 per kilo.
The cheaper price in the markets is pegged at P200 per kilo, said fish vendor Jhon Ereño.
‘Hipon,’ also known as ‘dulong’ in Manila and ‘moli’ and ‘anga’ in the locality, also thrives in fresh river waters.
They can be seen, including their egg cells, glued in the stones and surface boulders of the uptown river streams, and carried through the Cagayan de Oro river down to Macajalar bay during heavy rains.
Consumers would love to fry them in a circle with eggs and tasty powders or prepare it for dishes such as ginisang adobo and kinilaw.
“The season of hipon is usually in January or just one month in one year. Now, we have them since May which is abnormal but still a great blessing from above because tamban catch is rare nowadays,” another fisherman Dodie Paasa observed.
The seaside barangay of Bonbon, which is nearing its Tamban-Nipa festivity on September 10 in honor of its Patron saint San Nicholas de Tolentino, is seriously threatened by the poor catch of tamban fish.
From 60 to 100 styrofoams of tamban harvested daily when the season is good, the fishing group in Bonbon today would only settle for a combined catch of nine kilos that vendors would sell it at skyrocketing P100 to P150 per kilo.
“We can do nothing about it, considering the unbearable increase of gasoline and diesel at P70 to P75 per liter for our boats, plus ice and labor costs. Life is hard,” said seasoned ‘busero’ (deep sea diver) Richel Baal, who now dabbles as a security guard.
During the first outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, some two years ago, barangay Bonbon experienced an abundant catch of tamban (sardine/herring) fish that one could afford to buy it at a measly P10 to P20 per kilo.
Tamban fish, which is delicious for “kinilaw,” “pinirito,” and “sinugba” has at least five varities, namely ‘tamban tuloy,’ ‘tamban tayapad,’ ‘tamban yellowish,’ ‘tamban lopoy,’ and ‘tamban hilos hilos.’
Tamban tayapad, which is less oily and safe from arthritis according to fisherfolk, is the most expensive one being sold nowadays at P100 to P150 per kilo.
“If Camiguin is known to celebrate Lanzones festival with less (production) of the island’s famous fruits, then Barangay Bonbon might also have our Tamban-Nipa festivity in September despite the scarcity of tamban fish,” said fishing boat operator Egor del Puerto.
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