DA plans to revitalize prawn industry

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to revitalize the local prawn industry as Japanese traders expressed renewed interest to source prawns from the Philippines.

According to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who attended the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Japan last month, Japanese businessmen expressed interest in sourcing prawns and a number of other crops from the Philippines.

Likewise, Singapore also expressed interest in sourcing soft-shelled crops from the country, he added.

Alcala has since ordered Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Malcolm Sarmiento to draw up a program to revitalize the local prawn industry.

In an interview with The STAR, Sarmiento said the country’s prawn industry (specifically black tiger prawns) is slowly recovering from a near collapse in the mid-1990s due to disease from the green luminous bacteria.

Thus, from a former high production of up to 85,000 tons, output dropped to as low as 15,000 tons. But slowly, the local prawn industry has eradicated the green luminous bacteria and prawn production has now improved to around 35,000 tons, Sarmiento noted.

Furthermore, Sarmiento said aside from prawn production, the country now is increasing its production of the previously prohibited vannamei shrimps which has now reached 15,000 tons.

Thus, he pointed out local prawn and shrimp production now account for almost 55,000 tons, enough to start servicing the export markets.