The Department of Agriculture (DA) thru its attached agency the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) recently agreed to continue its research an verification studies on P. vannamei to broaden the country’s aquaculture base and increase shrimp production.
BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento said he approved the conduct of another study to determine whether or not P. vannamei is safe to commercially produce here.
"Once proven that we can produce P. vannamei in Philippine waters, farmers are expected to triple their shrimp production," he said.
BFAR recently aborted its study on the specie after commencing the project in December 2004.
Sarmiento said this developed after the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) discovered all P. vannamei brood stocks used in BFAR’s experimental trials became infected with Hepatopancreatic Parvo Virus (HPV).
Exports however, clarified HPV is not a new pathogen as this already existed in the country even prior to the research.
Based on their findings, the project proponent failed to sterilize HPV-infected oysters it sourced from Lingayen Gulf prior to feeding to the imported shrimp breeders.
"So the infection was acquired here since brood stocks imported for the project were free from diseases when tested upon arrival in the Philippines," Sarmiento said.
Over 1,000 infected brood stocks were destroyed at the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Center (NIFTC) in Dagupan City where BFAR conducted its research study.
In the aborted research project, Sarmiento said BFAR used stocks which project proponent AgroFisheries World imported from Hawaii at a cost of about $35 each.
The BFAR official said it would implement stringent conditions in its second study to avoid committing another mistake.
P. vannamei grows faster than tiger prawns and requires less expensive low-protein food, he said.
Four years ago, researchers in Hawaii were able to develop specific pathogen-free (SPF) and specific pathogen-resistant (SPR) strains of P. vannamei.
Sarmiento explained that the SPF strain is certified as having no pathogens while the SPR strain has the added advantage of being resistant to the deadly Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV).
He said the Philippines can gain if it can produce P. vannamei since US consumers, which comprise the world’s biggest shrimp market, are increasingly preferring P. vannamei over other species.
"They appear to prefer its taste over our local ‘sugpo’ called P. monodon," Sarmiento said.
He said there is also strong demand for P. vannamei in Taiwan, Thailand and mainland China, the world biggest producer of this shrimp specie with a yield of over 300,000 metric tons (MT) in 2003 alone. P. vannamei production is also booming in the US, Venezuela an Brazil. (Lilybeth G. Ison — PNA)
