Some Notes on the Development of the Pangasius Industry in the in the Philippines

J.P. Baldia

    Pangasius sold in General Santos market

Since 2007 when Pangasius fish, better known as “Cream Dory” or simply “Dory fish” fillet was re-launched as a food fish in the Philippines from Vietnam, its importation has been increasing by leaps and bounds.  To date, it was reported that the Philippines imports some  600 to 800 MT of fish fillet of this fish equivalent to 60-80 containers per month and this volume keeps on increasing. 

This indicates the increasing acceptability of this once unknown fish to the Filipino palate.  Imported Pangasius fillet can now be found in almost all the frozen section of supermarkets in major cities in the country, in wet markets, in restaurants whether fast foods or fine dining,  in the country’s major resorts such as Boracay and Puerto Galera and even as food served by airlines to its passengers during flight.

Freshwater Fish Egg Incubators II

There are at least 3 types of fish incubators presently used in Philippine aquaculture namely:

1)      Bed type incubator- this is commonly used for the hatching of adhesive type fish eggs like the Asian and African Catfish and Pangasius. With the addition of a substrate for egg attachment like a bunched yarn,  “kakaban” or water lily roots, the same bed type incubator are used for the hatching of Common Carp, Japanese koi, and goldfish.

Pangasius: Its Time Has Come!

Many people may still be unfamiliar with the fish called Pangasius. However, chances are, if you are fond of ordering fish fillet in restaurants, you must have tasted the fish. This is because according to a local trader, the Philippines imports from Vietnam some 15 containers containing 14 tons each of Pangasius fish fillet every month. These are distributed mostly to restaurants. Some restaurants list the fish in their menu as “Basa” or “Pangasius fish fillet” while some simply call it “fish fillet” and when asked what fish it is, the waiters usually say, “perhaps it’s lapu-lapu”.

Reducing Feed Cost in the Culture of Pangasius

Many Asian countries have become interested in the culture of Pangasius. This is due to Vietnam’s success in penetrating the world export market for this fish. At present, Vietnam has reportedly exported over 1 million tons, with major exports to Russia, Europe, Asia and the USA.

Back in the early ‘90’s, Pangasius is relatively unknown to many Asian countries. Today, besides Vietnam who supplies around 89% to the world market, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines have started producing either for their own consumption of the fish or for export.