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The
Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing to increase
shrimp production to 100,000 metric tons (MT) in five
years via the large-scale production of Peneaus vannamei,
or Pacific white shrimp.
Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the
department is confident that this level of production
can easily be achieved considering that culturing P.
vannamei is easier.
“Because
vannamei matures faster, requires less production inputs
and has strong resistance to diseases, it is projected
that the country will be able to achieve an
unprecedented shrimp- production volume in excess of
100,000 MT in five years,” said Paras during the recent
Philippine Shrimp Congress Inc., which was hosted by
Philippine Shrimp Inc. (PhilShrimp) in Bacolod City.
The DA
noted that, currently, the Philippines produces 30,000
MT of white shrimps and 24,000 MT of prawns, or sugpo,
annually.
The
Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Center, headed by
Dr. Joebert Toledo, and other stakeholders in the local
shrimp industry disclose that three factors will “help
spell the success of vannamei culture.”
These
are the culture of specific-pathogen-free or specific
pathogen-resistant broodstock and “high health” fry; use
of probiotics, biosecurity measures and other best
management practices; and the marketing of the right
size of shrimps demanded by consumers, plus compliance
with food-safety regulations.
About 60
percent of the country’s shrimp production goes to
domestic markets, while the remaining volume is exported
to Japan, Korea, the United States, Canada and Guam.
Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Malcolm
Sarmiento said that in only one-and-a-half years after
the government allowed the importation of P. vannamei
broodstocks, the bureau has already accredited seven
maturation, breeding and larval-rearing hatcheries in
strategic locations in the country and certified a total
of 38 growout farms, or around 497 hectares production
area.
Among
the country’s fishery products, shrimps and prawns make
up the second-highest foreign-exchange their earner,
bringing in an average of $100 million a year.
In
January last year, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap
signed Fisheries Administrative Order 225 lifting the
ban on the culture and importation of live shrimps and
prawns in all stages of development, effectively paving
the way for the entry of Pacific white shrimp brood
stocks into the country. |
