TILAPIA MONUMENT

This tilapia monument was erected by the Heirs of Jose C. Agahan, opposite the now famous Hagdang Bato sa Lawang Sampalok, inaugurated on May 30, 2005 by City Mayor Vicente B. Amante and PCAMRD Executive Director Rafael D. Guerrero III during the commemoration of the Fisherfolk Month declared by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and to commemorate the 50th year of the local tilapia industry in the city.

Mr. and Mrs. Jose C. Agahan introduces tilapia industry in the city by seeding Sampalok Lake near the City Hall, and Palakpakin Lake at Barangay San Buenaventura with tilapia fingerlings as authorized by the City Government under Resolution No. 85 of the Municipal Board approved by City Mayor Tomas D. Dizon on April 16, 1955.

Tilapia is now the number one table fish in the world according to Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons of the College of Agriculture of University of Arizona and President of the World Tilapia Association (WTA).

The only monument erected in memory of an initiator of Tilapia Industry, and photograph of this tilapia monument now form part of the records of the international organization on tilapia culture and farming. (RUBEN TANINGCO-7 Lakes Press Corps)