Juicy and savory Diwal: Pride of Roxas City
It has been four years since
It was held with great gaiety. Seafood seemed to be flooding the streets along the plaza. Tourists, both local and foreign mixed with Capiceños as they enjoyed the exotic taste of the delicacy that made Roxas City the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines,” or even perhaps that of Southeast Asia.
But the seemingly stellar ascension of the festival to popularity crashed. It seemed that the winged of all the seafood ceased to multiply and the diwal became scarce. As early as 2006 festival, the sagging harvest of the seafood was felt. This prompted the then-newly elected mayor, Vicente B. Bermejo, to cancel the festival, which should have been on its third year.
THE WINGED OF ALL ANGELS
According to the City Agricultural Services Office, “diwal is a very sought after bivalve which is very delicious.” But most especially, it owed its name and popularity to the fact that when its delicate white shells were opened, it resembled that of an angel’s wings.
Diwal’s scientific name is Pholas orientalis and belongs to Phylum Mollusca, family Poladidae, and its class is Pelycypoda. It thrives in the waters surrounding Capiz,
The Agriculture Office added that the diwal “burrows into the muddy sand substratum in the littoral zone or compact bluish gray muddy sand in the littoral zone.” It buries itself into a depth of two feet under the sand substratum found in some 10 to 20 feet under water.
A male diwal usually reaches 59 millimeter (or 2.2 inches) before it matures. Females on the other hand can reach up to 64 mm (or 2.5 inches). Spawning period of diwal is usually between January to July. A single diwal can produce a massive 800 thousand to two million eggs but the percentage of survival is only one percent.
A primer of the Office of the City Agricultural Services entitled Establishment of the Diwal Sanctuaries Thru Transportation in Roxas City Waters, discussed that the “gathering of diwal in Roxas City waters dates back to the ‘70s.”
By 1980 the price of diwal swelled as it was primarily pushed up by the increasing demand on the said shell fish. Its price hiked from five to 25 cents per kilo. Nevertheless in 1987, when the prawn industry boomed, the diwal disappeared and it was not until 1992 did it begin to appear again though in another site.
With the combined efforts of the
According to the primer, “transplantation was done in the study area after two months when the stocks were depleted.” A two-year moratorium which was extended for another two years was issued, prohibiting the gathering of the diwal along with other valuable shell fish species in 1999-2002. Through the City Ordinance 104, series of 2002, a shell fish reservation was established along the coastal areas.
In 2004, the City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council issued guidelines on sustainable harvesting. Among the guidelines included the limiting of the number of diwal gathered, as well as, the period of harvesting. Divers were required to attend the orientation of the Coastal Resource Management before they were given diving permits.
The Bantay Dagat patrol was mobilized to operate day and night to secure the areas where diwals are cultured, most especially during harvest season. The team also issued flags to those licensed boats and divers to distinguish them from non-licensed groups. A consultation on the part of the harvesters and buyers was conducted whenever issues arose. Divers were clarified of the maximum volume of diwal that is allowed to be harvested and to make sure that there will be enough diwal left for the next breeding season.
In 1996, transplantation of diwal in suitable water was introduced, which was then a new technology applied in
As of 2005, the diwal industry was already a million-peso industry estimated to have an economic value at around PhP 9.5 million, generating some 219 number of registered divers with 57 registered boats and the volume of harvest was set at 63.615 tons.
With the revival of diwal, the
THE DIWAL FESTIVAL
The opening of the Diwal Festival steered excitement and drew the attention of the local residents who thought the seafood was gone.
The celebration, which ran for two days, became a showcase of
“A seafood feast which was focused on the various ways of savoring this seafood,” according to the Roxas City Tourism Office. For two days, residents, together with visitors from around the country and the globe came to the Roxas City plaza to get a taste of the much talked-about diwal and requested that the diwal festival be lengthened the next time around. Indeed, the first diwal festival was a big success. As tons and tons of diwal were sold, it was sure indication that the exotic bivalve is a wanted delicacy for the mouth of everyone.
In 2006, the Regional Development Council 6 declared the local government of
THE LOST WINGS
As early as last year’s festival, the crisis over the diwal was already felt. Since harvest was not sufficient to carry out a five-day event, the festival ran for only two-days. Finally, Roxas City Mayor Vicente B. Bemejo cancelled the festival for this year.
Many were saddened not only for the cancellation of the festival, but also for the scarcity of the seafood. According to the Office of the City Agricultural Services, the following factors were considered for its decline in number.
Overharvesting
According to the Office, there were divers who gathered diwal even though they were still young and immature for harvesting. Besides, most divers have also no knowledge of the law of supply and demand. At first, they used to harvest everday since they reasoned out that they need an everyday source of income. But when they overharvested and the seafood flooded the market, the price declined and most of their stocks were spoiled, prompting them to schedule there diving thrice a week (every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), which was later lowered to twice a week (Monday and Thursday).
Trawling
Trawling is a form of fishing that uses a “large net dragged along the sea bottom behind a commercial fishing boat” (Encarta Dictionary, 1999).
Indeed, trawling was a difficult challenge to the existence of diwal since it scoured sea bed in the growing area. Efforts were already done by the city government but divers and operators, who were the direct beneficiaries, have done little to protect the growing areas.
Bad Weather Condition and
Siltation
Whenever hard rain and flood come, the tendency is that sediments will flow to the sea, thus, causing siltation. Maria Chona S. Braganza, in her book Earth Science (1999) tackled that whenever rain occurs, “flood water carry and later deposit large amount of sediments at the bottom of the rivers and reservoirs. Siltation reduces the amount of water that rivers and reservoirs can hold.” Aside from the erosion strong winds also carry sediments to the bottom of the rivers. These sediments can cover the growing diwal, thus, killing them.
As for the role of global warming, Belinda Garrido, Coastal Resource Management Coordinator of the city government, said that it has very little effect on the current state of the diwal.
“Study shows that global warming has no significant effect on marine life since there has been no significant rise on the temperature lately,” she said.
Pollution
According to Christine and Tyrone Chanco, water pollution is “any alteration in the original quantity of water” caused by organic matter or change in temperature. According to Encarta Encyclopedia (2002), water pollution, if severe, “can kill large numbers of fish, birds, and other animals or, in some cases killing all members of specie in an affected area.
Pollution makes streams, lakes, and coastal waters unpleasant to look at, to smell, and to swim in.” As for the case of diwal, the bivalve came on the verge of extinction in the city waters during the 1990s during the boom years of the prawn industry. Since diwals are very sensitive to chemical, the waters from the surrounding fishponds which flow to the estuary near breeding sites kill large numbers of diwal.
Harvesting During Closed Season.
Closed season is the period allotted for spawning of the diwal. Nevertheless, there are, some divers who sneaked into the growing sites and gather diwal, though the bivalve is not yet ready and is still immature for harvesting.
REHABILITATING WHAT WAS LOST
Alarmed by this crisis, the
The Office also reiterated that the remaining number of diwals should not be harvested since the lesser the brooding stock, the fewer the number of diwals will be. Regular monitoring is also frequently conducted to gather data as basis for sound management of the resource.
The Coastal Resource Management (CRM) has also organized the the Roxas City Diwal Divers’ Association as partner in the development of the diwal industry. In general, the City Agriculture Office has been involving these divers in the transplantation, monitoring, and management of the resource.
According to the primer Roxas City Diwal Rehabilitation Project, “monthly monitoring will continue and replacement of dead breeders and member of the RCDDA (Roxas City Diwal Diver’s Association) will take turns in monitoring their assigned areas.”
To address the sea currents and strong waves that scoured the diwal, the Office proposed for the construction of sea fences. There was also a plan to set up jackstone barricade in the diwal growing areas. This barricade will serve as barrier against drifting sands and trawling.
It is surely a tough but laudable struggle for the city government, specifically for the City Agricultural Services Office. But with the help of the divers and of the local people, and proper management of our natural resources, it is not impossible that the diwal will once again grace our waters and flood the markets or probably, enter
