shrimp aquaculture in sarangani bay

7/23/2019 Shrimp Aquaculture in Sarangani Bay

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Shrimp Aquaculture in Sarangani Bay: Past and Present Experiences

by: Marfenio Y. an

o our distinguished guests!

Senator "ynthia #illar!

Secretary Proceso $. Alcala of the %epartment of Agriculture!

&ndersecretary and %irector Asis Pere' of the Bureau of (isheries and Aquatic

)esources!

"ongressman Emmanual Pacquiao of Sarangani Pro*ince!

"ity Mayor )onnel )i*era of +eneral Santos "ity!

+o*ernor Ste*e Solon of Sarangani Pro*ince!

)egional %irector Sam Mal*as of B(A) ,-!

Mr. )oberto +atuslao! President of PhilShrimp!

Mr. Marun #illanue*a! President of SA)+E/ Shrimp!

our honorable "ity "ouncilors!

sta0eholders of the shrimp industry!

my friends!

ladies and gentlemen!

1t is my honor and pri*ilege to be chosen to share the story of Shrimp

Aquaculture in this part of the Philippines! in our Sarangani Bay.

his story that 1 share 2ith you is intimately intert2ined 2ith my experience

in this industry.

1 first heard of the idea of gro2ing shrimp in the year ,345 2hen 1

participated in a fisheries meeting in Baguio "ity for the crafting of )epublic Act

4667 or the (isheries "ode of the Philippines. After deli*ering my presentation as



0eynote spea0er representing the tuna industry! 1 o*erheard representati*es from

Bacolod tal0ing about monodon or the Blac0 iger Pra2n. hey 2ere telling of

stories saying that it 2as a *ery profitable business that had the potential to earn

millions. 1 did not belie*e them. 1 told myself that it 2as impossible to earn

millions from fishponds. 1 2as intrigued. 8a*ing been li*ing in Barangay Bula of

+eneral Santos "ity 2here fishponds abound! to earn millions from fishponds

2as ne*er heard of! as during that time aquaculture har*est of Bangus9 Mil0fish

only fetch ,7,6 pesos per 0ilogram.

hat time! as 1 2as already supplying tuna to Purefoods "orporation! and

Purefoods 2as already engaged in buying and culture of monodon! 1 as0ed

somebody from the company for help. 1 2as introduced to Mr. ;ito Yu and 2as

in*ited to obser*e their monodon farm in oledo and also ponds in "ebu under

San Miguel "orporation and o2ned my Mr. Mar0 "ouanco. 1 also got to 0no2 Mr.

(elix Yusay through )otary "lub. A ne2 aquantance that time! Mr. Budot

Beccares! e*en told me! <Ma0alimut 0a sa tuna 0ung masaylo 0a sa lu0on=!>

translated as <You 2ill forget about tuna 2hen you s2itch to pra2ns=>

1 had a preconception that ponds must be near the sea or constructed in

mangro*e areas. hen! friends in Bacolod toured me around their modern ponds.

1 2as surprised that ponds there 2ere far from the sea. hey ha*e con*erted

sugarcane plantations into pra2n farms.

Before 1 left for my Bacolod *isit! an agent 2as already encouraging me to

buy a ?5 hectare coconut farm in Malapatan as prices of coconut dropped to all

time lo2 of ,- pesos per 0ilogram. 8a*ing seen the Bacolod pra2n farms! 1immediately called up the agent if the coconut farm 2as still up for sale. And no2!

that coconut farm is SA/A"@) ,.

1 again as0ed help from Mr. Buhain of Purefoods for the design and

construction of the ?5 hectare SA/A"@), ponds. Simultaneous to that! the

)esearch "enter of the Philippines sponsored a seminar on shrimp aquaculture

in ai2an. Among the participants in*ited! that 1 remember! 2ere myself! Mr. /ic0

Alcantara! Mr. +eorge an! and Ms. Elena ;im. SA/A"@), applied the

technology and design of ai2an shrimp ponds using concrete di0es.

"onstruction started in ,34.

By August 4! ,344! 2e had our first har*est of Blac0 iger Pra2ns from

SA/A"@),.

Seeing the success of pra2n production! the next day! Sarangani

Agricultural "ompany! 1nc. or SA"1 started their pra2n farm 2ith %ole Philippines9

%ole Seafoods 2ith a total of -6- hectares. here 2ere only fe2 players in



monodon production then. Mr. )udy )i*era! father of our "ity Mayor )onnel

)i*era! and Mr. Abraham Ang 2ere among the pioneers in the Sarangani and

+eneral Santos "ity area.

he +ensan and Sarangani tiger pra2ns 2ere mostly for the $apan export

mar0et. Early buyers of monodon included %ole Philippines! Purefoods "orp! AAExport! and 8+)! a "ebubased company. Purefoods e*en chartered its o2n

plane! a %"?! flying 4 to ,7 tons e*eryday from +ensan to Manila. he pra2ns

fetched from ?77 to ?67 pesos per 0ilogram. SA/A"@), har*ested ,7 tons per

day of C, grammer pra2ns.

;ater! other players came in. Mr. $on @son! Mr. Bing Santos! Mr.

%emontaDo! Mr. %amalerio! Mr. $ugarap! Mr. Amadeo! and the )oyeca family

opened pra2n farms in a2as in Alabel and ambler and Buayan in +eneral

Santos "ity.

1n the late ,337s! 1 decided to con*ert my ,47 hectare salt farm in a2as to

SA/A"@)-! thus further expanding pra2n production.

8o2e*er! it 2as also slo2ly being obser*ed that gro2th of monodon ha*e

become erratic. At times gro2th rate 2as normal! but there 2ere also periods that

gro2th of tiger pra2ns 2as slo2 and stunted. 1t 2as also around these times that

disease on tiger pra2ns proliferated and the $apan mar0et also slo2ed do2n.

"ompeting pra2n producing countries li0e 1ndonesia and Malaysia also become

stronger. Prices dropped at around 37 to ,-7 pesos per 0ilogram.

By ,33! %ole Seafoods stopped their pra2n production and so also did

their partnership 2ith SA"1. @ther pra2n farms also closed do2n 2ith only )%

"orporation and SA/A"@) remaining 2hile ne2 buyers li0e Bomarine and

;ebarios! de @ro! came in.

Fith the slo2 gro2th and dropping prices of monodon! our feed suppliers

(rederic ;im of 8o0po (eeds and Philip @ng of ateh (eeds recommended that

2e shift to *anameii or Pacific Fhite Shrimp production. 1t 2as also around this

time that Mr. @scar de #enecia! brother of the former Spea0er of the 8ouse $ose

de #enecia and a colleague in the "oast +uard Auxillary ad*ised that 1 shift to the

fastgro2ing and sturdy *anameii.

8o0po feeds in*ited us to obser*e *anameii farms in Batangas o2ned by

8ernan ;im. 1n -774! 2ith the assistance of ateh feeds and Bureau of (isheries

and Aquatic )esources 2ho pro*ided shrimp fries from %agupan! 2e started

*anameii production in t2o G-H ,hectare ponds in SA/A"@)-.



(ast for2ard se*eral months and 2ith C7 tons of pacific 2hite shrimp

s2imming around in t2o G-H of our ponds! 1 had no buyer of the *anameii. Mr.

+erald Magalona started buying from us ,7 0ilograms of shrimp! then -7! later ?7

0ilograms per day. 8e later connected us 2ith Mr. /estor Britanya 2ho bought

?77 to 677 0ilograms e*ery day on cash to cash basis for Manila mar0et. Fith

consistent supply and quality! the /a*otas and Malabon mar0et increased to , ton

daily. And slo2ly demand of Manila increased to ,7 tons! then ?7 tons e*eryday

but they 2ere also buying from Bohol! "ebu! and Butuan.

More players oined the shrimp industry in the past ? years. "P (eeds!

Aro2ana (eeds! and President Plant feeds has helped starters and ne2

entrepreneurs. Fe are no2 oined by Mr. Bagonoc! Mr. Pedrina! Mr. Magalona! Mr.

Palileo! Mrs. Ben'onan! riple M! and Mr. $ohn Yap.

oday! )% and E"A are already processing *anameii here in +ensan. And

SA/A"@) is presently building a processing plant. he shrimp industry inSarangani and +ensan is slo2ly penetrating the export mar0et for *anameii

through Maruha! 1totchu! and Felldelight.

he establishment SA)+E/ Shrimp! a ne2 organi'ation of shrimp industry

sta0eholders in this southern part of the Philippines! is one indicator of the

gro2ing strength of shrimp culture in the SA)+E/ area.

"ooperation and coordination bet2een and among these sta0eholders 2ith

the assistance of respecti*e local go*ernment units and national go*ernment

agencies primarily represented by B(A)! in terms of sharing good practices!technology! policy! regulation! and biosecurity is a guarantee and assurance for

sustainable de*elopment of the shrimp industry is Sarangani and +enSan.

hat is my story of the shrimp industy in this part of the Philippines. hat is

ho2 a man that recently celebrated 7 years of life intert2ined 2ith fishing and

aquaculture sees the path that 2e ha*e tra*eled and hoping that it 2ill lead us to

better and healthier future for us and our children.

shrimp aquaculture in sarangani bay

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