Philippine Fisheries Development Authority – General Santos Fish Port Complex (PFDA-GSFPC) has celebrated the 24th General Santos City Tuna Fish Festival with the theme “Pista ng Karagatan: Ibalik and Saya” through the annual Grand Fish Fest sa Fish Port 2022 held at the PFDA-GSFPC Grounds on September 2, 2022.
As part of the month-long celebration of the Tuna Fish Festival, the Grand Fish Fest is an annual event organized by the PFDA-GSFPC to celebrate the abundant tuna industry in the city. In addition, this one-day activity aims to give homage to all the blessings that the province of Sarangani receives from the bountiful harvest of the sea.
Port employees, fishermen, laborers, and other port clients battled it out in various contests and competitions. This year, there were six main events held during the Grand Fish Fest:
- TUNAy na Mabilis: Linis Tuna (fastest and cleanest tuna de-gutting and gilling won by Tenpoint Manufacturing Corporation)
- TUNAy na Malakas (longest time for holding a 35-kilogram tuna won by Mr. Russel Corpus with a time record of 1:24:31)
- TUNAy na Bigatin (biggest and heaviest catch of the day won by a 126-kilogram tuna)
- TUNAy na Talentado: A Doble Kara Challenge (won by Mr. Gilbert Loyola)
- Langoy, Puzzle, Sack Race Marathon
- Hataw Heneral: Hip Hop Dance Contest with TunaFest Jingle Dance Face-Off (won by ESTMD Kompany)
In addition to this day-long activity, the Generals from the Tuna Capital of the Philippines enjoyed various festival highlights including the 22nd National Tuna Congress, Tuna Fest Skills Competition, Sugbahan sa Dalan, GLEO WEEK: Feast of the Sea Creative Expo, beauty pageants, and fairs that are held all over the city for the entire month of September.
(Mark Angelo N. Perez – Public Information Division with report and photos from Ms. Fritzie Leviste of PFDA-GSFPC)