The Blooming Fishing Industry of the City of Dipolog

By  Ligaya B. Tomong

           The marginal industry in Dipolog City are urging private organizations and government support initiatives that help the industry penetrate both local and international markets. It has always been a dream of every fisherman that marketing scheme for aquatic resources and processed fish products will be established and strengthens not only in this area but outside the country as well. 

Dipolog City has six coastal barangays which include Barangays Olingan, Galas, Miputak, Barra, Minaog and Sicayab where thousands of its residents engage in fishing and fish processing.

Members of the Barangay Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (BFARMC) said that starting from the month of March to November, there is an abundance of fish such as “Pirit”, “Sambagon”, “Titina”, “Malasugi” and the very famous “Tuloy” and “Malangsi”.

Summer time is the season for this kind of fish, the price of  “Malangsi” would then drop to  a stunning P5.00 per kilo because of its myriad supply. For this reason, fisher folks are encouraged and even the business sector to invest in fish processing especially in the bottled sardines industry in which Dipolog City is popularly known for in the Philippines and abroad.

Another positive outlook on the matter is that while the fishermen are busy gathering fish in the ocean, their wives and children are doing their part in actively selling their catch and process them into dried fish, smoked fish and other types with fish as the main ingredient.

           Some of the wives are involved in bottled sardines making, which through the help of First Lady of Dipolog, Evelyn Uy organized the women in the city now called the National Council of Women of the Philippines (NCWP) purposely to assist women and to mainly develop the as counterparts of their husbands in an income-generating activity that will surely benefit the whole family. Of course, this organizational effort will not be more successful if not for the full support of the City Government under the administration of Mayor Roberto Uy whose hearts desire is to help elevate the living standard of the fishermen in the city and to guarantee a better life for their families and for the next generations to come.

The government implemented several programs for the fisher folks through the office of the City Agriculture by conducting seminars in fish conservation and fish processing. A committee was also created composed of Mayor Uy as its Chief Executive, City Councilor Alton Ratificar as its Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries as well as other elected officers of the different associations of fishermen in Dipolog to immediately address the problems regarding fisheries and to come up with better and effective ideas for its development. 

This healthy relationship between the City Government and the fishermen shows that a bright future lies ahead in the fishing industry of Dipolog. Records show that Dipolog has been the center for visits and “Lakbay Aral” of different organizations and even officials coming from the different cities and municipalities just to witness for themselves the processing of bottled sardines.  They were very much overwhelmed of the outcome of the kind of business Dipolognons have mastered.

From just a mere homemade sardines making, now it has turned out to be a very ideal and profitable industry not only in the country but even in Europe and some other western nations bringing the name and pride of ‘Made in Dipolog City, Philippines’.