HIGHER PRICE FOR JANITOR FISH

Philippine Daily Inquirer

February 20, 2007

By: Edson C. Tondoc Jr.

FISHERMEN MAY DISLIKE THEM and consider them as pests, but the janitor fish which has quickly multiplied in the Marikina River now commands a higher price.

According to an updated city ordinance, the local government will now pay 50 centavos for every janitor fish caught from the river and presented to the Parks Development and Recreation Office.

The local government implemented a similar program two years ago to control the growing number of janitor fish in the Marikina River, depriving other fish not only of nutrients but the space they needed to grow.

The city used to pay 20 centavos for each fish under the old program.

“We decided to increase the price because we want this to become a livelihood project for our residents,” Councilor Ferdie Marco, who introduced the ordinance, told the INQUIRER yesterday.

The population of the dreaded janitor fish slightly decreased during the first two years of the program but the problem persists.  Marco added.

To push the campaign further, Marco said he would organize a contest next month which would give an award to the group with the most number of janitor fish caught.

He added that he would also support the high school student who won in an international competition for his work on turning oil produced by the fish into biofuel.

Raymond Joseph Amurao, 16, a graduate of the Marikina City Science High School, won in a science fair in Indiana, USA in May 2006 for his work on extracting oil from janitor fish which could be used in making soap and biofuel.