The increase in fuel prices and the stronger peso is hurting the Philippine shrimp industry, which urgently  needs government help to boost its export market, Roberto Gatuslao, president of  PhilShrimp Inc., said yesterday.

Gatuslao said the increase in fuel and power prices has caused the industry’s production costs to increase by 15 percent, and its export earnings have dropped with the strengthening of the peso.

The shrimp industry earned an estimated $34 million last year with the export of about 40 percent of its production, but this could be further increased, he said.

We are an industry that is here to survive, Gatuslao said, in stressing their efforts at production innovation that will be tackled at the 6th Philippine Shrimp Congress at the Bacolod Pavillon Resort in Bacolod City from May 28 to 30.

About 700 delegates from the Philippines and abroad are expected at the congress, Philip Cruz, convention chairman, said.

The conference to be attended by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Senator Edgardo Angara, Senate Committee on Agriculture, chairman, will tackle global, regional and national perspectives on shrimp farming and markets, biosecurity and nutrition and provide industry updates.

Lecturers will include national and international experts on the industry, Cruz said.

In the 1980s, the Philippines was the number two producer of shrimp after Taiwan, and now, maybe it is in sixth or seventh place  already, Gatuslao said.

Thailand that was nothing before in terms of shrimp production is now number one, followed by China, with Vietnam a strong third, he said.

The Philippines has fallen behind because it has not developed its export market, he said.

“We are very weak in market access and the promotion of our products,” he said.

The Philippines also does not have a processing plant for value adding of its shrimp products for export, he said.

The eating habits of people in importing countries have changed, they prefer food that they can take from the refrigerator and stick into a microwave to eat after five minutes, he said.

Importing countries like Japan, Korea, the United States and in Europe buy valued added products, or finished products that are semi cooked or cooked, Gatuslao said.

“We need industrial facilities to boost the value of our shrimp products for export,” he said.

“We need to convince the government that it should help the industry because shrimp exports could earn the country a lot of more,” Gatuslao said.

The industry earned about $34 million last year but with value adding facilities we could double or triple that in a very short span of time, he said.

The country currently produces about 24,000 metric tons of prawns and 30,000 MT of shrimps, he said.

In the late 1980s the Philippines was already producing about 100,000 tons of prawns alone, he pointed out. 

The Philippine shrimp industry’s main markets today are Japan and Korea, it has not even shipped to European countries yet because of the lack of value adding processing plants, Gatuslao said.

“We badly need this infrastructure for exporting to be able to let the industry grow beyond the domestic market,” Cruz said.

Maria Abigail Apostol Albaladejo, national coordinator of the Shrimp Health Management Program of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said they work at preventing the spread of any shrimp diseases and ensure the stocking of healthy shrimps in the country

The Negros Prawn Producers Marketing Cooperative Inc. also has its own laboratory accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and headed by Roselyn Usero.

The laboratory conducts analysis of samples from various parts of the country for prawns, shrimps, agriculture, potable water, lime quality, feeds, Usero said.*CPG

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