Say it ain’t so!
Filipinos may now have to lay off their favorite fried tawilis fish because it’s now endangered, according to Switzerland-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN)’s research posted on its website today.
Taal Lake’s sardinella tawilis or bombon sardine, the only freshwater sardine in the world, is now part of the IUCN’s endangered list due to a number of reasons which include “overexploitation, pollution, and competition and/or predation with introduced fishes.”
Other factors that come into play are overfishing, illegal use of active fishing gears like motorized push nets and ring nets, the proliferation of fish cages, and the deterioration of water quality.
“[C]atches of this species have declined significantly since at least 1998, and it is estimated that harvest has declined by about 49% over the past 10 years,” the IUCN said.
The IUCN also urged for the Philippine government to consider the species, as well as Taal Lake in Batangas, as high priorities for conservation.
Tawilis is a favorite among Filipinos and is considered a staple dish.
