Recent approaches for sustainable shrimp farming, DBS, Iloilo, Philippines
Shrimp aquaculture has a long history in the Philippines. It can be said to have its beginning at the same time as brackish-water aquaculture which, according to some accounts, predates even the arrival of Magellan in 1521 (Yap et al. 1995). However, it was in the early 1950s that culture in earthen ponds of the jumbo tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, was first documented by Villadolid and Villaluz (1951). This was followed by the first account on its phenomenal growth rate by Delmendo and Rabanal (1953). After only 16 years, the first successful attempt in breeding the species was reported (Villaluz et al. 1969). The industry took off in the 1970s, bloomed in the eighties, only to stagnate and even decline in the nineties.
Approaches for shrimp farming have been developed by AQD based on results of verification studies it had conducted in other sites in the Philippines specifically on growth, survival and production of the tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon using environment-friendly schemes. These approaches which include crop rotation; the use of partial and/or zero discharge system; the use of probiotics, bio-augmentation or microbial inoculants; and the use of low salinity levels for shrimp culture, led to the development of techniques that are useful in arresting the occurrence of luminous bacteria. However, the need for further refinement of the techniques for packaging and dissemination was recognized. The activity at DBS is therefore intended to refine such techniques.
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| The shrimp pond facilities at DBS, Iloilo, Philippines | Sampling the shrimp stock at DBS ponds |
Two runs of sustainable shrimp farming at DBS conducted in Year 2000 using two ponds (0.9 ha and 0.8 ha) stocked at 40 m-2 and 60 m-2, respectively, were harvested after 150 days culture. Production averaged at 5.0 tons/pond. Although results in 2000 were very promising, there is still a need to refine further the closed recirculating system for intensive shrimp farming, and this will be the focus of the activity at DBS in 2001.
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| Harvest of the shrimp stock at DBS after 150 days of culture |