January 22, 2007

White shrimp seen to revive local industry in Philippine province

The re-entry of Pacific white shrimps (Peneaus vannamei) in the Philippines has renewed hopes for industry stakeholders in Negros Occidental in the Visayas region to revive the province's shrimp industry.

Industry leader Roberto Gatuslao said that beginning March this year, local producers will culture the P. vannamei shrimps that could increase hectares of shrimp/prawn farms as well as creating jobs in the countryside due to cheaper production costs compared to cultivating sugpo or black tiger prawn.

The Philippines banned the entry of white shrimp stocks in 2001 to protect the local varieties from the Taura virus.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources under the Department of Agriculture (DA) has conducted experiments on the breeding and culture of P. vannamei shrimps in August 2005, to explore the possibility entry of the specie, following calls of shrimp farmers for the DA to help revive their dying industry.

BFAR field trials show verified the successful conduct of breeding and grow-out experiments of the P. vannamei in the country which prompted the DA to allow anew the importation of breed stocks with hopes to revitalize shrimp farming in the country.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap the white shrimp's entry in the country would lead to higher earnings for growers and exporters if they can culture the fast growing, highly tolerant specie in some 5,130 hectares of shrimp farms.

He added that shrimp producers expect the white shrimp to be sold at P200 (US$4.09) per kilogramme, but retail prices are likely to go down to P150 (US$3.07) to P175 (US$3.58) when the retooling of local prawn farms, the intensive training of growers, along with technology transfer programs lead to higher yields per hectare.