RP's first fish cemetery spruced up for All Saints' Day

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan , Philippines  – The Fish Cemetery, a popular attraction at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) office in Barangay Bonuan Binloc, is being spruced up for All Saints’ Day.

A Fish Museum is also being constructed in the compound to develop public appreciation for marine life and the endangered species buried in the compound.

BFAR center chief Westley Rosario said the cemetery has attracted curious visitors, foreigners, and those attending seminars at the nearby Asian Fisheries Academy (AFA).

Visitors usually offer flowers, candles, and prayers for the buried marine creatures.

Buried at the cemetery are 12 dolphins, two whales, and a sea turtle.

The last creature buried at the cemetery on Dec. 31 last year was a five-ton Minke whale, which was named Roxanne. It was found floating in the Manila Bay.

The other whale was a dwarf sperm whale beached in Barangay Pangapisan in Lingayen in April 2005.

Yesterday, Rosario was instructed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to prepare a 5.2- meter whale shark for burial. It was found dead in Manila Bay. It was first brought to the BFAR Central Office for a necropsy to determine cause of death.

The cemetery was put up when a 3.2-meter long dolphin weighing 1.2 tons was confiscated in a routine checkpoint in Malabon in 1999. The dolphin, named Moby Dick, was transported from the Malabon Market to the BFAR center after some men attempted to sell its meat.

The marine species buried at the cemetery are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Rosario said burying the remains of protected fish species will remind people that it is illegal to eat or sell their meat. 

Construction of a Fish Museum in the BFAR compound started on Monday.

The museum will be a gazebo-type structure on a 1,312 square meter lot and will house a collection of photographs and published materials on marine life. It will also give information on the species buried in the cemetery.

“(The museum) will complement the Fish Cemetery,” Rosario said.

Among the museum’s main attractions are the bones of 1.5-meter long Moby Dick that are being assembled for display.     – With Eva Visperas