DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is eyeing the potential of red pacu fish not only as food to help clear hyacinth blocking waterways to eventually solve the problem on flooding here.
Dr. Westly Rosario, BFAR center chief, said they have successfully reproduced red pacu (Colossoma bidens), a variety of fish from South America turned over to them by a donor.
BFAR officials here on Thursday held ban-oitan (a Pangasinan word for fishing) and cook fest using red pacu as part of the celebration of Fish Conservation Week.
Participants came out with dishes like ginataang red pacu, red pacu with chili sauce, caldereta and steamed red pacu with lemon grass, among others.
Although it looks like piranha, red pacu fish are harmless, according to Rosario.
Citing the need to control the proliferation of water lilies, Rosario said they conducted an experiment and found out that red pacu can eat a truckload of water lilies in a week’s time.
He said America and China also have this fish known to them as grass carp.
Red pacu is also an aquarium fish and commonly seen in pet shops. They can grow as big as 75 meters long.
Rosario said red pacu is similar to bangus, tilapia, grass carp and siganid.
A kilo of red pacu is sold at an introductory price of P60, he added.