By Ruben A. Veloria
OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines – Visiting delegates from Fish Right Project, an organization affiliated with US Embassy Manila, expressed gladness over the success of the fish processing center it sponsored to establish in 2020.
Nygiel Armada, the Chief of Party of the Fish Right Project, said the group was very happy for the successful operation of the fish processing center the Project help established during Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Armada said that while round scad or locally known as galunggong is very abundant in the area, many of the catch were left to spoil after they not sold in the market.
To prevent this from happening, the Fish Right Project consulted the 40-member Bangkero at Fisherfolk Association (BFA) for the establishment of a fish processing center in Barangay Barretto here, where surplus catch of poor man’s favorite round scad (galunggong) or milk fish (bangus) were processed into high-value Spanish-style bottled products- like smoked round scadfish or milkfish, mackerel scad in corn oil, or Filipino favorite dish sisig.
With the help of the facility, members of BFA have learned the method of fish preparation, cooking, packaging, and marketing of the produced bottled fish in a more competitive price which added to income of the association.
According to BFA Vice-Pres. Luz Labong, before the processing center unsold fish were turned into dried fish which they sold for cheaply; today, aside form walk-in buyers, they delivered process fish in many stores in the province and Kadiwa Centers.
Meanwhile, fisherfolks in Olongapo got the taste of Alaskan culinary from US-based chefs who showed them how to cook galunggong using herbs and fruits locally available in the Philippine market.
Chef Edith Johnson and Sous Chef Jeren Schmidt showed excited expectators how to turn galunggong into deliciously tasty dish using herbs and fruits, such as dragon fruit, coconut milk, lemon juice, olive oil, cilantro, and a lot of green leaves.
The cooking activity formed part of the cultural and experience exchange between the American visitors and local fishers which Fish Right Project promotes that strengthen more the Filipino-American friendships.
