BFAR tells shrimp growers to use aerator
PANGASINAN’S shrimp industry, which has basically been producing enough for local household consumption, can soon aim for the global market with the use of a mechanized system introduced by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) center based in Dagupan City.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR center, announced that last month’s testing of a mechanized system has proven effective in increasing production of shrimps by as much five times using a especially-designed aerator.
Rosario said shrimp growers can use the mechanism for “smart farming and for the Philippines to be globally competitive” in the shrimp industry.
“We want to promote this mechanized farming system for better fish production per unit area,” Rosario said.
“With the aerator, mechanically, we inject oxygen,” he said.
Rosario lamented that Pangasinan which is gifted by nature with aquaculture potentials with hundreds of fishponds, produces shrimps to meet demands for household consumption only.
He noted that the machine, donated to the BFAR, is already being used in other countries for high-value fish, but it’s proven that it’s equally ideal for vannamei shrimps in the Philippines.
COST-EFFICIENT
Rosario explained that the machine, which creates micro bubbles for faster transfer of oxygen from the air to the water that is vital for shrimp survival, is cost-efficient because it will allow a higher yield per unit area.
“Normally without aeration, you’re lucky if you produce one ton per hectare using the present system like (the traditional) ‘blind’ system of culture,” Rosario said.
He said the use of this technology is the right response to proper and more profitable shrimp growing especially in the face of climate change.
Some fish farmers have the wrong notion about they have to use the machine 24 hours, he said.
He explained that from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., dissolved oxygen of fishponds is at its highest level and slowly declines later and its lowest is 4:00 a.m. to 9 or 10 a.m. and it increases again.
With this mechanically-injected oxygen, there would be 24-hour assurance of enough oxygen supply for the shrimps, he said.
He noted that in countries like Vietnam and Thailand that use the machine, farmers are able to produce 10 tons in a 2,500 square meter pond without running it for 24 hours.
Rosario also stressed that he is not promoting a particular brand even if he was introduced to the aerator by an American company whose representative visited Pangasinan to explore a possible tie-up with a local fish grower for importation of shrimp products to Vietnam.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Rosario also said the machine helps address the problems brought about by climate change to pond operators.
“Before we had luxury of area (of fishponds) but there is now a reversed situation because there is flooding so it’s better to have small area with bigger production,” he said.
Rosario also said the Philippines can take advantage of the current Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) that affects shrimps in some countries, particularly Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China.
The Philippines, which is still a shrimp importer, has not been affected by the disease.
“The Philippines has no EMS so we can really promote culture of shrimps because first we are importer and second we can be exporter,” Rosario said.
Pangasinan is particularly safe from the threat EMS because the BFAR center in Dagupan has a molecular pathology laboratory which detects at a very early stage when a shrimp is a virus-carrier.
He said Pangasinan is ready because of the existing molecular pathology laboratory at the BFAR Center here which detects at very early stage when a shrimp is already a virus-carrier.
“So our only problem now is how to teach these farmers of culturing shrimps that would not be stricken with diseases and how to maximize use of their fishponds related to production,” Rosario said.
He said there nine private hatcheries availing themselves of the services of the laboratory to ensure they grow disease-free shrimp fry.
BFAR is ready to refer interested shrimp growers to these reputable hatcheries certified free of any known diseases- Eva Visperas
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