Mayor sees promise in ‘buro’ industry
BAYAMBANG – What’s bad for the goose is not necessarily bad for the gander.
This was the consensus of this town, the site of the biggest fishing sanctuary in the province, known as the Mangabul Fishing and Hunting Park, which sees the coming La Niña as a boon for its buro industry (fermented fish).
Mayor Leocadio de Vera said that the coming rains notwithstanding the government’s alert warning of the onset of La Niña phenomenon will be beneficial to them as it will resuscitate the buro industry in which this town prides in producing the best kind in Pangasinan.
“Maganda pag maraming ulan basta huwag naman babaha para mabuhay uli mga isda sa Mangabul,” de Vera said.
The buro industry has been in existence here since 1930s. Recalling the years when his family was among the concessionaires of the almost 500- hectare Mangabul Lake, de Vera said his family then sold as much as P180,000 worth of fish a day.
“Bata pa ako noon at sagana kami sa pera. Ayaw ko nang maghanap pa ng ibang trabaho noon (Time was and we had much money. I didn’t want anymore to have other job),” de Vera said.
Mangabul is a 2,059-hectare park situated between this town and neighboring Camiling and Moncada towns in Tarlac which is crisscrossed by at least 10 long and winding creeks. On rainy days, 454 hectares turn into a lake, while during the summer, the whole area, including the creeks’ banks, becomes a colorful field of rice, corn, vegetables and onions.
In 1993, Mangabul was declared a fishery reservation by the national government and then ceded to the municipal government under a usufruct for 50 years.
Later, the municipal government bid it out for short-term leases to private persons and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources assumed jurisdiction over the area.
But over the years, over-fishing and heavy silt from lahar flow coming down from Tarlac area took its toll on the fishes at the Mangabul Lake. This was also aggravated by El Niño, de Vera added. –EVA
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