Opah Fish Philippines 2020: Giant Fish Surfaces After Powerful Earthquake
A deep-sea giant colorful Opah fish was caught by a fishermen in Barangay Sta. Monica in Tubabao Island, Oras town in Eastern Samar province, hours after a strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake rattled Masbate province and some parts of Eastern Visayas at about 8:03 a.m. on Tuesday.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Juan Albaladejo said in a news report that the giant fish could have been "spooked" by the earthquake shockwaves, causing it to swim on shallow waters and enabled the fishermen to easily catch it.
The fish weighed a whopping 65 kilos. Opahs (also commonly known as moonfish) are large and colorful. A silvery-grey upper body color shades to a rose red dotted with white spots toward the belly. Its fins are crimson, and its large eyes are encircled with gold. The moonfish’s large, round profile may be the origin of its name. They are presumed to live out their entire lives in the open ocean and can be found 500 meters deep into the sea.
“This was quite a revelation, seeing this magnificent fish. We know that it is quite abundant in our eastern seaboard, usually schooling with highly migratory tuna species but rarely seen,” Albaladejo said in the news.
He added Opah is one of the expensive fish in the market as its meat is used for making sashimi.
“It is considered a good fish marketed as fresh and frozen or prepared as sashimi, and is under a very high price category,” he shared.
The fish was eventually sold at P200 per kilogram in their local market.
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