Shrimp production seen increasing next year

MANILA, Philippines - Shrimp production is expected to increase by 25 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2014 as the industry resumes  exportation after 15 years of inactivity.

Fisheries director Asis Perez said since the implementation of the crash programming for the shrimp industry this year, Philippine vannamei (white shrimp) and monodon (tiger prawn) have been fetching attractive export prices, encouraging shrimp growers to sustain improved aquaculture practices.

Philippine-grown frozen and vacuum-packed vannamei now fetches a price of P245 for every 10 grams, while monodon fetches a price of P430 per 30 grams.

Local shrimp growers are now aggressively exporting to Singapore, Japan and the United States where demand is particularly strong.

This year, vannamei growers in General Santos, Negros, Cebu, Batangas and other provinces have been shipping on a monthly basis 50 40-foot containers holding 26 metric tons of shrimp each.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Bicol and General Santos are growing production areas, supplying 30 percent of exports.

Perez said the expansion of shrimp farming in General Santos is led by tuna businesses that reinvented some of their earnings in aquaculture.

He said monodon production is also steadily increasing. 

The government is already laying the groundwork for the production of shrimp broodstock, or parent stocks, Alcala further revealed.

The country currently sources most of its shrimp broodstock needs from Hawaii, costing growers $30 per shrimp.

Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that tiger prawn production reached 48,196 metric tons (MT) in 2012, up slightly from 47,494 MT in 2011. In 2010, production reached 48,161 MT.

Annual  production value of tiger prawn in 2012 was placed at P1.89 billion, up from P1.85 billion in 2011. In 2010, production value was placed at 1.82 billion.

In 2012, white shrimp production reached 1,878 MT, down from 1,974 in 2011. In 2010, white shrimp production reached 2,076.

The local shrimp industry now enjoys a disease-fee status.

In April, the BFAR suspended the importation of live shrimp species to protect the local shrimp industry from Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), a disease prevalent in neighboring countries of  Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia.

EMS, the cause of which is still unknown, is characterized by death during the first 30 days of shrimp lifespan. Infected samples show slow growth, corkscrew swimming and pale coloration.

From 1996 onwards, overcrowding of tiger shrimp hatcheries in the Philippines resulted to the prevalence of diseases that led to closure of farms.

The government has since then attempted to revive the local shrimp industry with the introduction of white shrimp and adoption of stricter sanitary requirements in hatcheries.