Tuna, tuna, tuna fish
fresh from the fisherman's boat
get 'em cheap
or buy 'em high
if he's your man
y'can get 'em free.
"Tuna, tuna, tuna fish" is a poem that Mrs. Armonia taught my class in Grade 6. Today, I'm a trying-hard poet trying to construct a similar one. Pardon me though, the crap don't even rhyme!
In common Anahawnon terms, we don't usually refer to those fishes as tuna. What we have are tulingan, mangko, and bulis. I'm not really good in remembering fish names but I notice that in Manila, our tulingan is tuna, and our mangko is tulingan. So that confused me at first, and probably, you too. Anyway, the wet market is not my favorite place, so it does not really matter to me.
Locally, the fish is, of course, cheap if you can buy them directly from the fisherman. No need to explain, the fish do not pass through middlemen or fish traders. Good for you, you got the fish as fresh as it can be, but not for the brokers and traders, who just lost an income opportunity. But no worries, it's no big deal for them, I presume, since they usually don't trade local catch. They trade fish coming from nearby islands in huge volumes.
Majority of our commercial fish supplies and other sea foods usually come from this island which we affectionately refer to as "Tabok", which, we learn later, is actually a group islands called the "Dinagat". The word "Tabok" literally means "across", so that easily explains why we refer to those islands as "Tabok". I would just imagine that people from "Tabok" would also refer to our island as "Tabok" (Do they?).
Buying 'em high usually happens when you buy them from the market. And still, you can get them fresh, that is, if you have practiced and developed strict QA skills everytime you visit the market. Still good, since buying from the market is a lot more convenient than buying from the boat, and you are likely to get choices too.
So how do you get 'em free? Of course, if the fisherman is your friend! However, nothing really comes absolutely free my friend. I could remember playing, or simply whiling away the time at that fish weighing center (now, the fish market) in Tagup-on together with a handful of grown-ups chatting and sometimes also playing like little children. They were waiting for fishermen to arrive hoping that they have good catch. These guys are "nanabo" (salubong in Tagalog). When fishermen arrives, these guys would help "dahik" or drag the boat up the shore to where it would be safe from the waves. The fisherman would then share some of his catch, if he has any, among everyone who helped. If the catch is good, everybody is happy, otherwise, they'd just settle for "ginamos" (salted fish) or "buwad" (dried fish), which are mostly perfectly preserved fish and is almost always available at the "Mercado" throughout the year.
One time, while playing in the shore, a fishing pump boat arrived but there were only about a couple of able-bodied men who can help pull it upshore. A bigger kid shouted at me and commandeered that I should help too. With not enough muscles to carry the weight, I just held on to the "katig" and pretended to help. It felt like I was only adding to the weight rather than helping. Anyway, I was not really sure about that, I must have done a good job pretending because they gave me my share. :)
Anyway, however you are able to get the freshest fish in Anahawan, there is one thing I am sure. The best way to eat them is "kinilaw".
A fishful day to all!!!
