April 17, 2006

Philippines' hopes to make a comeback with new shrimp breed

The saying "once bitten, twice shy" apparently does not apply to Philippines' shrimp industry, where producers once again pin their hopes, and fortunes, on a new shrimp breed after diseases decimated the industry in the 1990s. 

The shrimp industry in the Philippines experienced a boom in the 1980s due to the premium prices its black tiger shrimp fetched in international markets. Back then, the lucrative sector drew many farmers away from traditional crops to engage in shrimp farming.

In the 90s, the industry crashed when diseases wiped out stocks in most farms and it has not fully recovered since.

Now, what remained of the industry is hoping to make a comeback.

To err on the safe side this time, the shrimp, scientifically named Litopeneaus vannamei, would only be commercially produced if proven to be more productive and less prone to diseases than the tiger prawn.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has imported breeding stocks for the white prawn for controlled production in government experimental farms.

Results of the project would be announced at the 5th National Shrimp Industry Congress in June this year.

Government agencies have also taken it upon themselves to update shrimp farmers on the latest technologies in shrimp farming in the Asia-Pacific region and will also launch initiatives to upgrade technologies in hatchery, prawn culture and feeding.

Major players in the shrimp industry have promised to market the new white shrimp in both local and foreign markets in the next few years if current experiments prove to be a success.