Fishpond owner raises rare blue, black ‘bangus’

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Rare species of black and blue bangus (milkfish) are being raised in a fishpond in Barangay Bonuan Gueset here.

Ed Maramba, the fishpond owner, said the two bangus, now four months old, were still fingerlings when he noticed their unique colors. They are placed in separate ponds, he added.

Maramba, president of the Fishpond Owners and Operators Association of Dagupan City, said his friend Jun Velasco, a veteran writer, christened the black bangus “Obama bangus.”

Two other black bangus and a blue bangus are yet to be named, he added.

Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources center here, told The STAR the black and blue bangus “could possibly be due to abnormality in pigmentation called albinism.”

It happens to a person, snake, fish, and carabao, among others, he added.

Rosario said he is not surprised at the black bangus as a fish’s body becomes black when blind and adapts to the environment. However, he is surprised at the blue bangus, he added.

Rosario said when he was studying in the United States, he was taught that in examining a fish, one may conclude that a black fish may be sick.

Since Maramba’s unique bangus are healthy, an examination might be advisable, he said.

A group of fishery experts in Dagupan City and representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency had visited the black and blue bangus.

Maramba said he has no plan of having fishery experts examine his black and blue bangus and that his fishponds are tightly guarded.

Maramba said he has been into bangus growing since he was 12 years old. Now at age 58, it’s his first time to see a differently colored bangus, he added.

Maramba said these unusual bangus could be a blessing. “Everything comes from God, this is not man-made or incidental,” he said.