The Philippines can boast of having one of the most diverse fish species in the world, but if you ask the younger generation set, the first kind of fish they would mention would be bangus (milkfish).
And rightly so. It is our national fish after all. This major source of protein for Filipinos has soft, white and palatable flesh and can be cooked or prepared in many different ways. It is popularly cultured in almost regions of the country because it can grow in salty, brackish and fresh water. Bangus (Chanos chanos) is also relatively cheap with the fresh harvest sold from P70 to P90 a kilo, depending on the size.
Records collated by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources research center in Dagupan City showed that in 2004, the country produced a total of 269,030.2 metric tons.
Pangasinan –known for its delectable bangus – belongs to the Ilocos Region but the region, which produced 488,634.6 metric tons that year, actually lags behind Region VI (63,991.7) and Region III (58,794) in production.
Time was when bangus was cultured only in ponds and the fry were gathered at the coastlines during breeding season when sabalo (mother bangus) lay eggs. But modern fish technology has resulted in greater production throughout the years.
“The production has increased by an average of 8.7 percent over the past five years,” Westly Rosario, chief of the Bfar Dagupan research center, said.
The cage and pen operations greatly contributed in increasing bangus production. Harvests from freshwater culture added 10 percent to the total production while  brackishwater, 77.4 percent (due to an increase in stocking density and expansion of fishing operation). Marine fish cages and pens contributed 12.6 percent.
Bangus farmers are no longer dependent of fry collected from the wild. The  BFAR has established hatcheries in different provinces to sustain milkfish fry production year-round. Still, a number of bangus farmers have to buy their fry from abroad.
The availability of commercial fish feeds has also helped in the continuous production of the fish and which enabled the country to grow more bangus than it can consume
The records of DTI showed that the country of the 269,930.2 metric tons produced in 2004, 163,673.9 metric tons were consumed locally, showing a surplus of 109,284.5. . The excess production is marketed abroad as processed products.
In Pangasinan, where bangus is produced in 14 towns and three cities, there are 221 firms engaged in bangus processing. The “plain bangus” is processed into deboned, marinated, smoked, fillet, longganisa, spring roll and sisig and others.
The bangus processors directly export their products to the United States,  Canada. Hongkong, Japan, Australia, and Sweden, among other countries.
But the bangus industry has its own problems, including poor water quality, according to Ven Ros Dimaya of Alaminos City. This include poor water quality, availability of affordable quality fry, unstable wholesale price, lack of capital, lack of foreign markets and high frequency of typhoon occurrences.
 Indeed, the bangus industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years because of the tireless efforts of both the government and private sectors. There is still a big market waiting out there, waiting to be tapped. And it may not take a long time before the national fish can finally conquer the whole world.