Beware of bonor or biyang dagat, bunog or parog or biya (Gobius criniger) and certain species of pufferfish or botete.

Seven persons, including a two-year old girl, were brought to the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) after they were poisoned for eating the brown spotted goby fish, locally known as bonor or biyang dagat for breakfast Wednesday.

Dr. Westly Rosario, center chief at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Dagupan City, said there has been a permanent ban since two years ago against the gathering, marketing and consumption of these fish species due to documented poisonings.

The most recent victims were identified as Ruben Cubing, 37, his wife Lina, 30, their two- year old daughter Rovelyn, Dexter Santos who is Lina’s brother, Renelia  Santos, 50, mother of Lina, Juan Dungonan, 50 and his son, George, 22, all  from barangay Laois, Labrador.

The Cubing family reportedly cooked it paksiw style (boiled in vinegar and spices) while the Dungonan family cooked it with coconut milk. The victims lived in two separate houses.

They were initially rushed to the health center in their town but were later transferred to R1MC.

The fish was caught by two of the victims from their fish net at the river mouth connecting to the sea along Pangapisan in Lingayen town.

The first poisoning incident happened in Region 2 in 2005, with one death reported. Similar incidents have been reported from Sual town.

Rosario said goby contains a toxin called tetrodotoxin, a potentneurotoxin that blocks voltage-gated sodium channels on the surface of nerve membranes. There is no antidote for tetrodotoxin, according to a BFAR memorandum.

The symptoms of goby fish poisoning are numbness of lips and tongue, sometimes with gastroenteric symptom, advance paesthesias, motor paralysis, motor in coordination, respiratory distress, drop in blood  pressure, mental faculties impairment and respiratory paralysis.—EVA

 

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