the nets. Although the possible size of a full grown adult is much
greater, I usually saw these fish being packaged for sale at about 20
to 25 cm ( 8 to 10 inches).
My greatest concern for the endemic lake fish are the quite-probable escapees, which would likely out-compete the native fish
(as tilapia have done in many parts of the world). These tilapia
were not only being grown for the Philippine market, but also as
a major food export to many countries, including China and the
United States.
More than 24 fish shops line Cartimer Street in Pasay, Manila.
A beautifully colored arowana seen at a Cartimer Street fish shop.
large areas of tilapia fish farms. There were many fish farms, all
side-by-side, known as co-operatives. They have been there for
over 20 years and may have something to do with the declining
numbers of tawilis. A half-hour drive took me down to a nice
large fishing village on the shores of the lake and to the tilapia
fish farms. It was difficult to get to the actual shore of the lake
due to the houses that had been built on every space along the
lake edge. It seemed like every house owner had a fish farm on
the lake. These magnificent structures were floating ponds and
walkways, usually with equipment sheds on each. Some even had
garden areas and trees—all floating. There were literally hundreds
of these individual farms.
The fish they all held were Oreochromis niloticus, the Nile tilapia.
These were being grown for food purposes. They were not being
bred here; they were bought from other fish farms as fry and only
grown in this location. The thought was that since Lake Taal was
such a large body of water, conditions in the lake were unlikely to
be affected by heavy feeding of these tilapia. They were all held in
large nets of varying thickness, depending on the size of the fish
held. Since they are mouthbrooders, the theory was that if any bred,
egg retrieval would be impossible and they would be lost through
Visiting the Aquarium Shops
I had read a little about Cartimer Street in Pasay City, another
location within Metro Manila. This was fascinating, as the area
concerned had rows of aquarium shops. Also in the same location
were other pet shops selling every exotic pet you could think of
(and many more). As usual, there were many flower shops and
plant stalls. There were more than 20 shops selling fish, and they
had some most unusual species, like crowntail bettas, combtail
bettas, and some very sought-after fish like Cuban cichlids. There
were also several very nice, large arowanas, which are popular all
over Asia.
Of particular note was the cleanliness of some of the shops selling
dogs. One shop in particular was spotless, and had cooling fans to
give the dogs some comfort. Anyone wishing to handle a dog had to
wash his or her hands with alcohol first. These dogs were pedigreed
and were for sale at similar prices as Great Britain (where I am
from). I saw no evidence of dogs being mistreated; on the contrary,
the dogs in these pet shops were treated with more love and care
than is normally seen even in my country of animal lovers.
In Paranaque City (another part of Metro Manila), I visited a
very large aquarium shop and wholesale business, exporting live
fish from all over the world. This shop boasts having the country’s
longest aquarium strip. It certainly was the longest I had ever seen,
having four columns of tanks for a length of approximately 60 to
70 meters (197 to 230 feet). Besides the normal aquarium fish I
expected to see, there were a few more unusual fish here.
The biggest part of this business was its numerous pools and
ponds with many large fish like gars, shovelnose cats, arowanas,
stingrays, and many others. The koi section was most likely the
main business of this company. Large ponds containing some very
impressive-looking koi originating from Japan were seen here. Koi
being readied for export were housed in separate ponds labeled
with instructions for feeding, etc. Of course no food was given to
fish for export within two days of transport. My guide, Mr. Samson,
who is the assistant manager of this establishment, was keen to
show me all I wished to see. A side entrance opened out into a
large conference room, which had dozens of tanks with breeding
frontosa all around the room. From a distance I saw some areas
where aquarium and pond plants were on sale. I was then shown
the marine section. This was very tidy and contained more species
of clownfish and damsels than I knew existed. I didn’t see anything
notoriously difficult to keep alive in captivity. Also encouraging,
I was told that many marine fish were bred locally and not taken
from the wild.
Scoping Out a Fish Farm
After a few days of tourist activities, I was taken to visit another
fish farm. On the way I passed rice fields and saw many areas where
rice was laid out on the road to dry. These patches of rice covered
