BACOLOD CITY, July 2 (PNA) — Leaders of the shrimp industry said that shrimp production in the Philippines remains dynamic amid an export boom in the past year.
This was the pronouncement at the start of the three-day 9th National Shrimp Congress in this city Wednesday of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Asis Perez, Philippine Shrimp Industry Inc.(PHILSHRIMP) president Roberto Gatuslao, and Congress chairman Raoul Flores.
The event, being held at the Bacolod Pavilion Resort and Hotel, is themed “Production, Health and Marketing of the Philippine Shrimps.”
Perez said the country now produces “Vannamei” or the so-called Pacific White or White Shrimp. Before it was Monodon or Black Tiger Shrimp locally known as “lukon.”
He noted that the Philippines’ total annual aquaculture production is 2.6 million to 2.7 million metric tons a year, of which shrimp production is between 50,000 and 60,000 metric tons.
In 2011, 90 percent of the production was Tiger Shrimp or “sugpo,” and then the White Shrimp was introduced in that same year.
Perez added that the P10-billion shrimp industry had an export boom last year of close to 20,000 metric tons. The country exports its Tiger Shrimp to Japan, China, United States and Europe.
“We want to export and feed the world but we also would want shrimps to become a commodity in the country and allow every Filipino to enjoy eating shrimps,” he said.
Perez said they want the industry to produce efficiently, and to maximize opportunities and grow shrimps with sustainability.(PNA)