Cagayan Valley officials push ban on ludong fishing

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines  – Efforts to save ludong, the country’s most expensive fish, gained headway after the Regional Development Council (RDC) for Cagayan Valley supported moves to ban ludong fishing.

Ludong, which is known for its extremely delectable taste, is also called the President’s Fish or Pacific Salmon because of its high market value of at least P5,000 per kilo. It can only be found in the waters of Cagayan and Abra.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said ludong is nearly extinct due to premature fishing as well as its increasingly dwindling habitat areas.

BFAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) also pushed for stiffer penalties against those who will gather ludong during its spawning period from October to January.

BFAR wants to increase the penalty from P200, as stipulated under the 58-year-old Fisheries Administrative Order 31, to P80,000 for any violator found to be catching selling and buying ludong.

“Such imposition of higher penalty against those found illegally catching ludong was only appropriate given the change in the economy since 1952 when said order first came out,” Jovita Ayson, BFAR director for Cagayan Valley said.