Fish Frenzy at Paloquemao

Hawking hanging fish in Paloquemao.

With Easter Week comes Lent, when millions of practicing Catholics give up meat for fish. That means packed fish markets, especially Paloquemao today which we visited during a bike tour.

Sliced bagre.

Dried, salted fish.

The demand was so great that they set up tents outside the market.

The fruit section was packed, too.

But the red meat section...abandoned.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Fish Feeding Frenzy in Paloquemao

The venerable Paloquemao market's fish section is packed these days (while the neighboring meat section stands vacant). This is Holy Week, of course, and even if the number of Colombian Catholics is declining - and many of those Catholics are only nominally so - as these photos show, eating fish during Holy Week is still popular, if only for cultural reasons.

Bagre on the chopping block. The fish is endangered and may be absent in future years.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Say Goodbye To That Bagre!

Bagre in Paloquemao market in Bogotá.

Bagre rayado, a staple of Colombian fish markets and restaurants, may soon be gone.

This fishseller in Paloquemao was aware of the bagre's
predicament.

According to the National University, bagre - as well as the pez jetón - are disappearing because of overfishing in the Rio Magdalena, as well as pollution and human alteration of its habitat.

Saving the bagre, also known as the pez gato or catfish, would be simple in principle, according to the researchers. Since a female can lay 800 eggs at a time, stopping fishing for just couple of years could allow the bagre to recover. But the small fishermen who catch bagre are undoubtedly poor people who can't afford to give up their livelihood for years. But that attitude could doom the bagre fishery forever.

The bagre didn't become a Colombian staple becuse of its
good looks.

Another possibility, it seems to me, would be to farm the bagre in captivity - if the fish will cooperate with that.

Bagre are also suffering other human impacts, including lead poisoning from mining and oil extraction, and pesticides from agriculture. That's yet another reason to think twice before eating bagre.

Bagre, top, and pez jetón below.
(Image from the National University.)

Colombia has 1,435 known species of freshwater fish, but 81 of them are in danger of extinction. Undoubtedly, there are many more species to be found: In fact, university researchers recently discovered three new fish species in Antioquia. Most likely, humans are driving other species extinct even before scientists can identify them.

A Bogotá fish restaurant.

And fish are far from Colombia's only endangered animals. According to the recent book Grandes Felinos de Colombia, Colombia's jaguars, pumas and tigrillos are being devastated by habitat loss, illegal hunting and mercury poisoning. Conservationists dream of a multinational protected area to enable jaguar populations in Central America to breed with those in Colombia.

The jaguar, now endangered, has played an important cultural role here since pre-Columbian times. Here, a replica of a San Agustin sculpture portraying a figure with human and animal characteristics.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

A Big Week for Fish

I don't remember the fish's name, but it's from the Amazonia.

This being Easter Week, fish are big business in Paloquemao and other Bogotá markets. 


Such a lovely fishy!

 

Sadly, however, many Colombian fish species are being severely overfished, and so may not be available many more years. If you're concerned, ask for farmed fish. Fish farming does have its own impacts, such as pollution and contamination of wild fishes' gene pools. But farmed fish aren't going extinct.

Bizarrely, despite having two coasts and lots of rivers, Colombia imports fish from Vietnam (as it does coffee).

Piles of dried, salted fish for sale in front of Paloquemao market.

Bagres smiling back at you.

Not just fish is for sale.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours





Alfonso's Personal Fish Market

These bailarines are in the bag. 

Almost three decades ago, Alfonso set some aquariums on a ledge on the corner of Calle 13 between Carreras 8 and 9. He's been there ever since, pretty much every day, selling goldies, bailarines, guppies and other varieties. 

Along with his captive product, Alfonso also has a captive market, since there are no pet shops nearby. If I understood him correctly, Alfonso doesn't have any fish of his own. But he has his sources. When a client asks for some exotic species, Alfonso gets it for them. 

Over the years, he's seen the sale of other animals, such as turtles, banned for environmental reasons. But he can still sell fish. 

A llama - or is it an alpaca? - walks past.

Alfonso sets up beside a notary's office and at the northern entrance to the traditional but sadly run-down Pasaje Fernandez. He got the idea thanks to some friends, who sold their fish on Plaza Bolivar. But those men have stopped selling, and one has died. How long will Alfonso, who is over 60, 

keep offering his fish amidst downtown's high-rise buldings and noisy traffic?  When he quits, will someone else offer a bit of biodiversity amidst the concrete?

Taking a good hard look. 

What are you guppies doing in there?

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Shopping for Easter in Paloquemao

Look at my dried, salted fish. 

Paloquemao, Bogotá's second-largest fruit (and everything else) market, is packed these days with folks buying for Easter meals. Naturally, the fish section is hopping, but fruits and veggies, particularly avocados, are also moving fast. Maybe it's also that Colombia's wonderful avocadoes, in all of their varieties, are in season.

An avocado cart.

Sliced bagre on top. 

Tasting avocado. Colombia's got dozens of great varieties. 

Try some avocado.

The Las Nieves market was also hopping. 

Fish plates

A guame cart.

Incense cart. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours