Asia still top shrimp producer

Asia has maintained its lead position as the world’s top shrimp producer.

Thailand continues to dominate the trade, followed by China and Indonesia.

From No. 3, the Philippines has nosedived to No. 8.

This information on the shrimp industry was presented by aquaculture expert Wilfredo Yap during the Third National Shrimp Congress held recently in Bacolod City.

The scientific forum was organized by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), Philippine Shrimp Association (PHILSHRIMP), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Board of Investment (BOI), and Negros Prawn Producers Marketing Cooperative, Inc. (NPPMCI).

"World production of farmed shrimps breached the million metric tons mark in 1998 at 1.013 mt," reported Yap, who is head of SEAFDEC AQD’s Technology Verification and Commercialization Division.

Government-hosted AQD, which is based in Tigbauan, Iloilo, is one of the four technical departments of SEAFDEC, a treaty organization founded in 1967 to promote fisheries development in Southeast Asia.

Yap said that the global shrimp industry has grown at a modest average annual rate of 3.65 percent since 1998, reaching 1.087 million mt in 2000.

He added that there is still potential for growth as latecomers Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to push for growth.

Asia is still the leading shrimp-producing region with 84.9 percent; followed by South America, 8.79 percent; and North America, 5.37 percent.

Thailand continued to dominate and was close to reaching the 300,000 mt level in 2000 at 299,700 mt, or 27.6 percent of total world production.

China and Indonesia followed with 217,994 mt, and 138,023 mt, respectively.

A far fourth was Vietnam with 69,433 mt, followed by Bangladesh, India, Ecuador, the Philippines, Mexico and Brazil.

Yap said the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, continues to be the dominant species with 53 percent, followed by Chinese shrimp P. chinensis (13 percent) and the South American whiteleg P. vannamei (seven percent).

"But this figure may be misleading since the Chinese are known to have shifted to the South American species along their southern coast but has not reflected this in their statistics," he averred.

According to the SEAFDEC AQD official, Penaeus vannamei is making inroads into Asia in spite of objections from biologist and environmentalists on the danger of introducing exotic species. However, unless an improved strain of P. monodon becomes available through successful domestication, the temptation will always be strong to try this exotic species.

Yap added that the Japanese market for shrimp appears to have bottomed out with imports from 1997 to 2000 lower than those of the previous four years by 16 percent.

However, the United States market remains strong as American shrimp consumption reached 1.15 billion pounds (522,000 mt) in 2000.

China and the rest of East Asia are already a major market for shrimps as their economies grew, Yap said.