WHAT fish functions as cleaning agent by feeding on water hyacinth and weeds and could be served too as adobo or even kare-kare?

It’s the red Pacu (Collosum bidens) fish, a native of the Amazon River, has long been known in the Philippines but only as a pet kept in aquariums.

But now, this specie will be introduced in the province’s fresh water lakes and ponds after the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), through research at the Dagupan-based National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC), established its value as a good cleaning agent as well as food.

The NIFTDC spent five years of intensive research on the fish using 10 samplings donated to the agency.

At NIFTDC, scientists bred the Red Pacu to produce eggs, which when hatched could be disseminated in various lakes and fresh water bodies in Pangasinan teeming with water hyacinths all-year round.

Dr. Westly Rosario, head of the NIFTDC, also assured rice farmers that Red Pacu will not be a pest to their palay as these thrive on at least half a meter deep of water while rice grows in paddies of only 6 centimeters of water.

There is also no threat of wild spawning, Rosario explained, as the Red Pacu sexually matures only after two to three years, unless the male and female species are injected with hormones in laboratories.

Growing at about one foot long in one year, Rosario said the fish could be harvested for food by then, long before it becomes sexually mature.

Rosario encouraged fish farmers to raise Red Pacu in lieu of other species since these don’t need commercial feed to grow, just water hyacinth and other weeds, which translate to less costs and bigger profits.

While pet shops sell Red Pacu fingerlings at P60 each, the NIFTDC will sell the fish to potential raisers at only 30 to 50 centavos each.

FISH CONSERVATION WEEK

To prove that Red Pacu is herbivorous, Rosario organized a “Ban-oitan” as part of the recent Fish Conservation Week where participants were allowed to catch the fish from the pond, using hook and line with either earthworms or leaves as baits.

Those who used leaves as baits were able to catch Red Pacu while those with earthworms were unsuccessful.

A cooking demo for Red Pacu was also held at the event, featuring such popular Filipino recipes as adobo, kare-kare, and kilawin.

Rosario recalled that when tilapia, native in the African continent, was first introduced some six decades ago, many did not want to eat it.

A distant cousin of the carnivorous Piranha, which is banned throughout the Philippines, the Red Pacu is herbivorous and could have been used when the Rio de Grande de Mindanao was clogged for miles due to water hyacinths, aggravating flooding in Central Mindanao.

Rosario said unlike the Piranha, which has sharp lower and upper teeth, the Red Pacu only has sharp lower teeth, which begin to wear out during its adult age.

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