Southern Leyte serves 10,500 prawns in record bid

BONTOC, Southern Leyte—The Southern Leyte provincial government on Saturday served at least 10,500 pieces of prawns (350 kilograms) in a bid to establish a Guinness World Record for the longest prawn stew.

The prawns were served on a 160-foot long table at Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) campus here during the “Ulang (Prawn) Festival.”

Mabel Calva, school administrator, said the university invited Guinness officials to the festival but that the school could not afford the record keepers’ travel expenses.

Calva said Guinness, however, asked for the details of the record attempt.

Bontoc Councilor Jannu Idjao, who supplied the prawns, said at least 350 kg, or at least 10,500 pieces, of fresh prawns were used in the stew.

More than 400 people ate the prawns, including Commissioner Nenalyn Defensor of the Commission on Higher Education.

The attempt at a record was part of activities for the two-day First  International Fresh Water Prawn Congress, which was also participated in by representatives from Vietnam, Kenya and Norway.

The congress was spearheaded by the SLSU Bontoc campus, which specializes in fisheries and aquatic research, to highlight Southern Leyte as the “prawn capital” of Eastern Visayas.

Only the province has a prawn hatchery in the entire region.

Edgardo Esperancilla, Department of Science and Technology director in Eastern Visayas, described the prawn industry in the Visayas as a “sunrise industry” worth only P4 million to P5 million.

“But it has potential because a new technology is being developed to make it an alternative source of livelihood or a main source of livelihood along with tilapia-growing,” he said.