By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
LET’S talk about crabs!
Just recently, Mayor Marvin Malacon of EB Magalona town in the northern part of the province of Negros Occidental made a head-turner appeal to their fisher folk.
“Don’t catch baby crabs (crablets) and berried (bukakahan) female crabs. Let them grow until four inches and beyond.”
Simple to read. Ordinary to hear. But there’s sense in it. EB Magalona, the “Blue Crabs Capital” of NegOcc, plays an important role for the billion-peso crab industry in the province.
Really, blue crabs here, especially those thriving along the Tomontong Strait stretching up to Banate area in Iloilo, have a distinctive taste. Experts say that’s because of the salinity of the seawater within the Tomongtong Strait.
Moreover, blue crabs here are feed on mussels, thus, tasty. That’s why since 2003 when blue crabs became famous in the province, local leaders in NegOcc were so keen about the preservation of this kind of crustacean highlighted by its exoskeleton.
Overfishing or over-catching of blue crabs may imperil their population from Cauayan town in the south to Escalante City in the north. Worse, they might become extinct, warned officials from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region 6.
‘YUMMYLICIOUS’
Crablets when fried are billed “yummylicious” in Negros. Thus, carinderias and even high-end restaurants in Bacolod City and anywhere in the province serve fried crablets as an A1 menu.
As far as I can remember, in 2008 it came to a point that then EB Magalona mayor Diding Gamboa lobbied for the banning of fried crablets menu in all restaurants in Bacolod and NegOcc. For Gamboa, serving fried crablets in restaurants ain’t an environmentally-friendly act.
Then, the late EB Magalona mayor David Albert Lacson also moved to put up a 19-kilometer crab sanctuary for bukakahan from the coastal areas of Barangay Latasan to Barangay Pasil in town. The sanctuary was off- limits to catching bukakahan for five to 10 years to allow undisturbed procreating period.
Lately, the town’s council also passed Municipal Ordinance No. 29, series of 2019 or the “EB Magalona Blue Crab and Bird Sanctuaries and Mangrove Reserve Ordinance of 2019. Again, such was aimed at protecting blue crabs in town.
MATHEMATICS OF CRABS
Let it be known, too, that in 2013 the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of NegOcc passed Ordinance No. 019, series of 2013 or the “Blue Crab Fishery Ordinance”. Such an edict regulates the catching and selling of crablets and bukakahan. Anyone violating this provincial statute will be fined P1,500, including cancellation of his/her fishing permit/license for 30 days.
Question: Why is this so?
Let’s dwell on the mathematics of blue crabs.
Per study, a female crab only lays eggs once in her lifetime. And she lays approximately 20,000 eggs. From these eggs, only three crabs (at the most) make it to full maturity. The rest are eaten by other fishes.
Another scientific fact is in a single spawning, bukakahan can produce one to two million zoeae. But take note: of these one to two million zoeae, only one percent will survive and grow into adult crabs.
That’s how “tricky” the blue crabs’ life and population cycle are.
Meanwhile, data culled from the Philippine Association of Crab Processors, Inc. (PACPI) revealed that in 2015 NegOcc was able to produce 3,837.54 metric tons of blue crabs. Alas, decline followed.
GOOD FOR THE HEART
Likewise, be informed that crabs are important in the ocean. They’re called diversified crustaceans, science says. They’re the main decomposer in the marine eco system. They help clean the sea bottom by harvesting decomposing plant and animal matters.
But aside from their environmental essence, crabs, too, have booth cultural and health significance. Various crab menus are now part of our Filipino cultural properties.
But over and above, crabs, particularly the blue crabs, are said to be “good for the heart”. Website www.webmed.com said crabs improve heart health. Their meat has mega-3 fatty acids that ultimately lowers triglycerides, blood clotting, and help make less heart threat.
‘POLITICAL WILL’
In essence, therefore, Mayor Malacon’s decision to gather their fisherfolk from nine coastal villages and remind them of the danger of over-catching of crablets and bukakahan.
It’s undeniable that life, at present, is quite economically challenging. Inflation forces everyone to be “madiskarte”. But the mayor’s appeal is just simple: “Let the blue crabs grow to four inches in diameter.”
Four inches now represents the “political will” of Mayor Malacon. And it connotes his ardent desire to save and preserve blue crabs in their territorial waters from “economic angst” versus “steepy economic condition”.
What a “mission” worthy of praise and emulation!/PN
