July 25, 2006

Phillippine shrimp farmers hope to lift shrimp ban

 

 

The shrimp industry in the Philippines is calling for the ban on vannamei shrimp to be lifted as there has been increasing demand for the shrimp, an industry source reported last week. 

 

Farmers said the ban allows other countries to monopolise the white shrimp market.

 

Fisheries and Aquaculture Board (FAB) president Lourdes Tanco said groups in the shrimp industry recently petitioned the government to allow the commercial culture of the non-native vannamei shrimp.

 

Tanco said although testing by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) already proved that white shrimp can be grown in the Philippines relatively free from disease outbreaks, the agency still has not lifted the ban.

 

National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Centre (NIFTDC) Chief Westly Rosario said the ban would be lifted once the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils (NFARMC) convenes.

 

The council acts as an advisory body to the agriculture department.

 

Tanco said while the industry awaits the council's decision, other countries are already earning millions from their exports.

 

For example, Thailand is already exporting 400,000 tonnes of white shrimps a year merely four years after beginning vannamei production, Tanco said.

 

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.

 

Authorities want to be sure the vannamei shrimp would be less prone to diseases than the tiger prawn before allowing commercial production.