Bringing Fish Catch to Homes Fresh via Fish Liner or Walkathon:

Agusan del Norte, Philippines in Focus

Joseph Christopher C. Rayos, Ciara Mae B. Eom, and Cathleen D. Dela Cruz

In many rural areas in the Philippines, fresh fish catch does

not usually reach the communities and homes because of
transportation and accessibility constraints. As a result,
the fish catch that comes to rural areas had already been
either smoked or pickled or salted or processed in some
other ways. Many enterprising sellers, not only the big-time
traders but also retailers, have made several attempts to
reach the rural communities in the Philippines immediately
upon getting their share of fresh fish catch, but these
only resulted in heavy competitions to the disadvantage
of the retailers or the small-scale vendors who could not
easily access the rural areas due to inaccessible road
conditions. For this reason, retailers or small-scale vendors Figure 1. Province of Agusan del Norte in Mindanao, Philippines
have rethought of the ways on how to reach the rural (Source: Google Map)
consuming public in no time, and this paved the way for
the conceptualization of the “fish liner” or “walkathon.”
Innovation and a showcase of modern Filipino resiliency, a
simple motorcycle which is eventually the most convenient
transportation that could easily reach the rural areas, has
been remodeled into a vehicle for transporting fresh fish for
sale. Although “walkathon” refers to a walking marathon, Figure 2. Nile tilapia
the locals in Agusan del Norte use it to denote an ingenious (Oreochromis niloticus)
means of transporting and vending fresh fish catch. A “fish
liner” on the other hand, is also a coined term to denote
production after milkfish (cultured in brackishwater), and
transportation of fish by land, just as an airliner is an air the most cultured freshwater fish in the country. It was noted
transportation system or a sea liner for sea transport. For that the Philippines was a global top producer of tilapia
the “walkathon” or “fish liner,” two styrofoam boxes which until the early 1990s although most of the produce is meant
could accommodate a maximum of 50 kg each of fresh for domestic consumption. It was said that small family
fish, are set on the right and left sides of the motorcycle businesses that operate one or two ponds/cages are the major
and another on the posterior edge. Using a plastic straw,
tilapia producers in the country.
a weighing scale is tied in the middle of the two boxes.
A megaphone is also set in between the right box and the
box on the edge. A wooden frame is constructed and fitted Specifically, Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus) is
on the motorcycle to provide stable support for the boxes. considered as one of the most important freshwater fishes in
These “walkathons” could be found roaming not only world aquaculture (Coimbra and Reis-Henriques, 2005). It is
around the streets and main thoroughfares of Agusan del widely cultured in many tropical and subtropical countries
Norte but most especially in the rural areas of the Province.
of the world. Nowadays, tilapia is cultured in freshwater and
marine environments. Fast growth rates, hardiness to adverse
The Province of Agusan del Norte (Figure 1) in the Philippines environmental conditions, efficient feed conversion, ease of
is located in Mindanao, specifically in Region XIII, also spawning, resistance to disease, and good consumer acceptance
known as CARAGA Region of Mindanao. CARAGA Region make tilapia a suitable fish for culture (El-Saidy and Gaber,
encompasses four provinces: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del 2005). Production of tilapia in cages has been practiced for many
Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur; and Dinagat Islands. years in various countries worldwide. The earliest record of cage
Facing Butuan Bay and part of the Bohol Sea to the northwest, culture practice in Southeast Asia dates back to the late 1800s.
Agusan del Norte is bordered on the northeast by Surigao del
Norte, in the mid-east by Surigao del Sur, on the southeast Since then, similar culture practices have been reported in
by Agusan del Sur, and southwest by Misamis Oriental. Its both freshwater and marine environments, including in open
capital city is Cabadbaran. oceans, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and rivers (Eng and
Tech, 2002). Since tilapia is produced throughout the different
In Agusan del Norte, tilapia (Figure 2) is an important and regions in the Philippines, most of the tilapia harvested are
cheap source of animal protein for families with limited consumed locally and are sold directly to local markets. The
spending power. The Philippines where the population is now “fish liner/walkathon” (Figure 3), with the luxury of working
roughly 104 million, demands a large market for tilapia, which with a smaller amount of capital and lesser inventory, is
has been listed as second in volume in terms of aquaculture one means of making fresh tilapia catch reach the remote

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 motorcycle (Figure 4). In such a situation, baskets or similar
containers are attached to the vehicle being used as means of
delivery. The products are placed inside the baskets, where
a horn or “potpot” is sounded to announce their presence for
consumers to purchase their goods.

Such a system of vending goods and wares is not just a local

Figure 3. The
“fish liner” or practice as this is also common in countries like Thailand,
“walkathon” Cambodia, and Indonesia. A variety of products are sold
of Agusan using motorcycles as a means of transportation. For example
del Norte, in Thailand, handmade rattans are carted from one place to
Philippines
another using a motorbike, while in Cambodia and Indonesia,
corners of Agusan del Norte. Such marketing system has fresh goods and produce are transported with the use of
proven to be agile in their approach by testing the waters of motorcycles. These scenarios have shown how a motorcycle
a particular market first before committing to do something or a motorbike can be used effectively to reach the consumers,
more permanent either in terms of location or with inventory. especially those in remote areas. The difference with a “fish
liner/walkathon” is that it carries wet goods or newly harvested
Sell it Easy, Save Big: the marketing of fresh fish because noticeably, the previously-mentioned
tilapia systems are selling products that are usually in forms of dry
goods. When it comes to marketing per se, the “fish liner”
The Province of Agusan del Norte is dominantly agricultural has a better way of advertising or drawing attention because
and produces major terrestrial crops such as rice, corn, of the blaring megaphone which alerts the consuming public.
coconut, abaca, banana, and mango, but its fishery resource The megaphone contains a pre-recorded announcement where
is also one of the sources of livelihood for its people. Tilapia the vendor beckons the consumers to purchase their goods.
production of the Province is considered to be medium-scale,
and intended mostly for local consumption, and is usually The “walkathon” made its way
sold in market live, fresh or frozen, and readily available in
wet market areas all over the Province the whole year round. In a place where all transactions happen before dawn, Mang
Erning a fish vendor is up early to purchase tilapia from farms
Transportation is one of the major problems when it comes or from “bagsakan” (small trading areas) to offer his regular
to reaching the remote areas of Agusan del Norte. In some customers. At 5:00 AM, Mang Erning would kick-start his
areas, residents have to walk a couple of kilometers just to motorcycle and be on his way to his delivery areas while
reach the marketplace. With the Filipino’s resilience in most sounding his megaphone. This has been a usual daily routine
situations, small roadside marketplaces called “talipapa” for four years of a simple fish vendor, Mang Erning. In his
had been set-up. However, one of the easiest ways for the first two years of fish vending, Mang Erning found it difficult
people in the rural areas of the Province to obtain fresh fish to sell fish due to lack of a convenient means of transportation
is through the remodeled vehicle, which has been termed as that would enable him to sell fish from house to house. He
the “fish liner” or “walkathon.” would hire a tricycle just to get him to his pick-up market and

Selling of goods in the Philippines with the use of a motorcycle Box: Arranging the pieces for “fish liner/walkathon”
could be considered very common practice. In many For a “fish liner/walkathon,” the following are needed:
provinces, it is a means of peddling various products and wares Motorcycle - the most convenient and efficient transportation
for consumers’ convenience. In the country’s Provinces of used in Agusan del Norte that mainly uses gasoline and runs by
a motor, and could also be called a bike, motorbike or cycle
Nueva Ecija and Davao, the homemade bread locally known (Figure 5)
as “pandesal” is sold in the streets with the use of a bicycle or Megaphone - an advertisement tool for the walkathon, it is
an innovation with a recorder and a speaker, playing the pre-
recorded call over and over during the vending hours
Weighing scale - traditional weighing scale used in Philippine
markets and is calibrated in kilograms with a plate over its top
used to hold the fish to be weighed
Styrofoam boxes - serve as the storage of the fish, and retain
Figure 4. Local
the freshness of whatever is stored because it is made of
“habal habal”
polystyrene thus, sustaining the coldness of the product inside
(motorcycle) in
topped with ice cubes or crushed ice
Davao Province
being used to sell Skeletal structure - made of wood, it is designed in the shape
homemade bread of the boxes and used to sustain and hold the styrofoam boxes
“pandesal” in place, and mainly serving as the support structure of the
(Source: http://davaogastronomicadventures.blogspot. walkathon.
com/2008/05/vendors-in-my-subdivision.html)

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 Aling Pearl, a market fish vendor who owns a stall at Jabongga
Fish Market, she has her ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ about the fish liner/
Figure 5. A typical walkathon. As a stall owner, Aling Pearl pays monthly stall
motorbike being
rental, electricity and water bills to the sole owner of the Fish
trnsformed into
a “fish liner/ Market. Although she exerts less effort because the consumers
walkaton” in would only reach out to her to buy fish, waiting for hours
Agusan del Norte, and longer is one of the struggles she encounters, “hindi ko
Philippines
alam kung kailan mayroong bibili at isa pa marami kaming
it would take him hours to sell his fish stored in a small pail. dikit-dikit na nagbebenta rito,” (I don’t even know when my
These struggles motivated Mang Erning and his co-vendors buyers will come and besides, with my competitors around,
to re-model their motorcycles to better serve their purpose of it can be a challenge), said Aling Pearl. Sometimes they rely
vending fish, giving birth to the “fish liner” or “walkathon” on their ‘suki’ as what they call those who are their consistent
(Box) with which vendors like Mang Erning are now in a customers, just to have someone buy their produce. “Nauubos
position to offer a unique and cost-efficient retail experience rin, pero minsan kailangan buong araw pa ang hintayin eh dun
that stands apart from fixed storefronts. sa walkathon nauubos agad kasi ibinabahay bahay nila” (Our
fish are sold out but sometimes it would take us hours or even
Travel light, sell bigtime one whole day to wait). The good thing about the fish liner/
walkathon is that the fish is being sold from one house to the
‘Bili na po kayo, isda, mura lang’ (Come, buy some fresh other. The observations of Aling Pearl are valid because fish
fish for a cheap price!) is the usual phrase playing over and liner/walkathon vendors, such as Mang Erning for example,
over in a megaphone attached to a motorcycle. This has been sells fish perhaps for few hours only, and it only cost them the
an early routine for fish vendor Mang Erning in the remote gasoline used and the batteries for the megaphone, and could
areas of Jabongga in Agusan Del Norte. Fish vending has have their tilapia produce sold out in a short time. Therefore, if
been his means of livelihood. He has raised his household and the unit effort would be calculated, fish liner/walkathon would
had sent his children to school through this source of living. provide lesser selling time, lesser effort and lesser expenses.
Every day, Mang Erning would get up before the first hint of
morning sunlight to prepare himself and proceed to the busy References
markets of Jabongga in Cabadbaran City reaching even the Coimbra, A.M. & Reis-Henriques, D. (2005). Nile tilapia,
markets of Butuan City, the Capital City of CARAGA Region Oreochromis niloticus L., reproduction inhibition by
in Mindanao, Philippines. dietary exposure to Aroclor 1254. Bulletin of Environ.
Contamination and Toxicol., 75: 407-412
Walkathon has been a big help for fish vendors in the Province El-Saidy & Gaber, M.M.A. (2005). Effect of dietary protein
of Agusan del Norte, as it has leveled up fish vending in terms levels and feeding rates on growth performance, production
of transport time reduction from hours to minutes, from a traits and body composition of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis
niloticus cultured in concrete tanks. Aquaculture Research,
kilometer walk to a fast-paced bike, from hours of vending to
36: 163-171
a revised marketing strategy using a megaphone, and from just
Eng, C.T. & Tech, E.(2002). Introduction and history of cage
about 15-20 kg of fish in pails now to more than 100 kg of fish
culture. In: Woo, P.T .K., Bruno, D.W. & Lim, L.H.S. (eds.).
to sell. This “fish liner/walkathon” has therefore provided a big Diseases and Disorders of Finfish in Cage Culture. CAB
aid to fish vendors, especially that personal selling has a greater International; pp 1-39
impact on buyers than through retail stores. The customer does
not have to wait to get his questions answered. He can learn
what he needs to know right then and there. Through the “fish About the Authors
liner/walkathon,” the fish vendor also gets a better feel of what
the customers want. Although the Philippines might have been Dr. Joseph Christopher C. Rayos is a Registered
seen with a high rate of poverty incidence, such a situation has Fisheries Technologist and the Officer-in-Charge of the
not stopped the Filipinos from improving on what is readily Fish and Nutrition Section, Aquaculture Research and
Development Division of the National Fisheries Research
available for their convenience, demonstrating how resilient
and Development Institute (NFRDI) - Philippine Bureau of
and innovative the Filipinos could be! Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) at Mother Ignacia
St., South Triangle, Quezon City, Philippines.
The usual old new way
Ms. Ciara Mae B. Eom is a Registered Fisheries
Fish liner/walkathon is making its name in the local markets Technologist and Researcher of NFRDI-BFAR at Mother
Ignacia St., South Triangle, Quezon City, Philippines.
and streets of Agusan Del Norte. It has made its branding
and is now widely used by fish vendors for fish retail. It is Ms. Cathleen D. Dela Cruz is a Researcher of NFRDI-
inevitably paving its way because of how fish vendors have BFAR, Mother Ignacia St., South Triangle, Quezon City,
benefited greatly from this remodeled retailing. According to Philippines.

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