Smuggling of banned shrimp species still on

(Last of two parts)

About 1,000 hectares of ponds have been stocked with the banned shrimp species Litopenaeus vannamei. Four of the five farms stocked with the prohibited crustacean are in Central Luzon, and the fifth in Southern Tagalog.

In 1998, there was also a one-time stocking of L. vannamei in a large commercial shrimp farm in Negros Occidental after diseases decimated its Penaeus monodon (tiger prawn) stock.

To this day, the local shrimp industry has remained polarized on the L. vannamei issue.

Wilfredo Yap, head of the Technology Verification and Commercialization Division of the Tigbauan, Iloilo-based Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center’s Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD), said the major arguments raised by those against the lifting of the ban on the commercial import of L. vannamei are the following:

• Possible spread of exotic diseases such as the Taura Syndrome Virus and their transmission to the local shrimp stock.

• Effect on local diversity since the exotic species may multiply in local waters and displace local species.

• The Penaeus monodon is still the fastest-growing species.

• Since everyone else in Asia, including shrimp production giants China and Thailand, is already into L. vannamei production, very soon the market for this crustacean will be flooded and prices will come tumbling down.

Pathogen-free stocks

"Even the most vocal opponents concede that the risk of exotic diseases can be greatly minimized, if not totally eliminated, by allowing only specific pathogen-free (SPF) stocks to enter (the country) and by instituting appropriate quarantine measures," Yap said.

However, he added, it is also argued that once legal, there will be more L. vannamei coming in and it will not be easy to determine whether or not a certain stock is in fact SPF or not.

For their part, proponents of the lifting of the commercial import ban argue that the L. vannamei is a good alternative species to Penaeus monodon and can help boost local shrimp production, which has been in a tailspin since 1994.

Specifically, the merits of the shrimp species are cited as follows:

• It can be stocked at a much higher density than P. monodon without any substantial increase in aeration and water change while still attaining a high survival rate of 90 percent. Some farms reportedly stock at 100 per square meter and harvest more than 15 tons per hectare.

• It grows very fast under local conditions. In intensive operations, L. vannamei consumes less feed.

• Legalization of its culture will encourage the import of specific pathogen-free stock and lure investors to invest in SPF broodstock production facilities. Legalization will also make lower-cost shrimps available in the market.

• Continued prohibition will not stop its local culture but will only encourage the entry of uncertified stock.

• Frozen L. vannamei is already being imported to serve the growing demand for small-sized shrimps in the restaurant and fastfood industries.

Yap asserted that the only effective way to stop smuggling of L. vannamei without the government spending anything is to make certified disease-free L. vannamei fry available locally.

"This can be done by allowing qualified private shrimp hatcheries to import SPF L. vannamei broodstock from known facilities in Florida and Hawaii," he said.

Thailand’s Option

He said this was the option taken by Thailand, which is now the world’s largest shrimp producer with more than $2 billion in shrimp exports. Thai fishery authorities have decided that the importation of SPF stock is more realistic than a total ban and that any risk from such imports is greatly outweighed by the economic benefits to be derived.

"The Philippines does not have much to risk as far as its shrimp industry goes," Yap said. Production continues to dwindle from a high of 95,816 metric tons in 1993 to only 35,493 MT in 2002.

Exports used to be at a high of 30,462 MT in 1991 with FOB value of $273 million. But exports are now down to 16,562 MT, earning only $139 million for the country.

"The irony of it," Yap lamented, "is that our fastfood chains and restaurants are importing the very same shrimp which our farmers are not allowed to grow because we do not have a consistent supply locally at the volumes and quality required."

He said the Philippines used to be third biggest producer of shrimps in 1993. Now, it has been overtaken even by newcomers such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. Vietnam, in spite of its growing production of black tiger shrimps, has also allowed the importation and culture of L. vannamei.

Yap concluded: "Yes, I’m against the continued illegal import of shrimp fry from Taiwan. But I am for the legal import of certified disease-free stock from known SPF shrimp facilities elsewhere as a way of stopping the smuggling of shrimp stock with dubious health status."