Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC)here, said they were aware that EMS could wipe out the local shrimp industry if the disease finally enters the country, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has banned lately the importation of shrimps, lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans.
Rosario said that EMS is a deadly disease that could wipe out shrimp population overnight since it kills the juvenile at very early stage.
Luckily, the EMS now affecting shrimps in other countries, is not an indigenous micro-organism, he added.
Rosario said the disease has already affected the world's leading exporters of shrimps like China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Thus there is a need to ban temporarily the importation of shrimps and other crustaceans to ensure that the EMS will not enter the country through any port.
Rosario admitted that despite its wide fishpond lands, the Philippines still imports shrimps from other countries to supply the needs of many of the country's local restaurants.
He said with EMS destroying the shrimp population of even exporting countries, the Philippines must seize the opportunity to improve its shrimp production to be able to fill up the demands of the local market and later export shrimps to other countries.
"This is the reason we are resuscitating shrimp culture today," ,Rosario said, adding that production of shrimps must be brought to sustainable level in a few years for the country to be self-sufficient.
He said to be able to hit the export market, the country must improve its present level of production at least 10 times.
He also asked fish farmers to intensifytheir production of shrimps, particularly the white shrimps called vannamae, so the Philippines could cease importation and instead become an exporter.
To detect diseases, NIFTDC is offering to fish farmers its modern aquatic animal laboratory where samples of shrimp juveniles obtained from local sources can be brought where they can be tested if they are healthy.
Aside from this, it has stepped up its training for teachers and technicians on modern aquaculture technology so that they can teach their students on modern aqua-culture technology.
It has advised fish farmers too to use mechanical aerators in their fishponds where they are growing out milkfish and shrimps in case the water is on a stand-still as a result of neap tide to produce and create dissolved oxygen needed by the fish.
The Dagupan Seafood Processing Plant being managed by the BFAR, he said, is open to any one who would like to process their shrimps for export to different countries. (PNA)
