Masantol through which the big Pampanga River passes is the province’s undisputed crab capital. Mangrove crabs (formerly called mud crab) are a major product of fishpond operators who manage no less than 12,000 hectares of ponds, according to Crisanto N. Lapaz of the provincial agriculture and fishery council (PAFC).

The areas along the river used to be planted to the traditional rice and other crops like corn and vegetables. But when saline water started coming in from the sea, the farmers could no longer grow the crops they used to plant. That’s when they shifted to operating fishponds.

According to Lapaz, there was a tremendous financial improvement in the lives of the residents. Raising crabs, bangus, prawns, tilapia and other species proved to be much more profitable than planting rice. That’s because the fishponds produced high-quality crabs, prawns, bangus, tilapia and other minor species.

DPWH UNDERTAKING WIDENING – At this time, however, some of the fishpond operators are affected by the widening of the river being undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways. The agency has already demolished a number of fishponds to give way to a bigger outlet of water from upstream during the rainy months. The activity is also aimed at minimizing the effect of the flow of sea water towards the upper reaches of the river.

According to Lapaz, he and his fellow fishpond owners believe that the right thing for DPWH to do is to dredge the silted river so that there is a free flow of water from the upstream and thus avoid flooding of areas along the way.
One observation is that the river upstream such as in the Calumpit area is too narrow so that when flood waters from the mountains cascade down, much of the water spills to the areas on both sides of the river, causing a lot of flooding. The solution, according to Lapaz, is dredging the silted river. He and his companions claim that the DPWH should have conducted a dialogue or consultation with them so that a solution to the problem could be properly addressed.

PROGRESSIVE FISHPOND OPERATOR – Anyway, we were able to interview one of the successful fishpond operators in Masantol. He is Arthur Paule who is in his mid-30s. His ponds are not at the edge of Pampanga River so they are not affected by the widening being undertaken by the DPWH.

Arthur started operating his fishpond seven years ago, starting with just 1.5 hectares. Before that, he was into network marketing of herbal products. But since he was not making any headway financially, he decided to go into fish farming.

He was correct in his decision. His operation has already expanded and has become lucrative. From his start of 1.5 hectares, he is now managing 70 hectares. His main products are mangrove crabs and prawns. He particularly loves growing crabs because they are less expensive to produce than other species because he does not have to feed them with commercial feeds. He feeds them with shells gathered from the sea which are relatively cheap.

He stocks his ponds with crablets that are as small as the fingernail costing five pesos each. There are bigger ones that cost him P15 apiece. In four months of culture, the crabs may attain a weight of 700 grams each. That is the particular size that most buyers prefer, especially those who export the same to Hong Kong.

Compared to prawns, crabs have less mortality. Only about 70 percent of the crablets usually survive but that is already a very good percentage. It is a very profitable rate. In the case of prawns, he said the survival could be only 20 to 30 percent. Still, he can still make money from prawns. His prawns command a high price of P1,000 per kilo.

He also grows bangus in a smaller scale together with the prawns and crabs. And there are “volunteer” crops that simply entered his ponds like blue crab (alimasag) and biya. The blue crab sells for P160 a kilo while the “biya” sells for P120 a kilo.