MANILA, Philippines--Agriculture officials expressed optimism that the Philippine can double its shrimp production to 100,000 metric tons in five years and regain its status as one of the world?s top exporters of this product.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the lifting of a ban on importation of Pacific white shrimp into the Philippines could result in the speedy rebound of the shrimp industry.

With the lifting of the ban, shrimp producers can embark on large-scale production of the Peneaus vannamei or Pacific white shrimp, Paras said.

?Because vannamei matures faster, it requires less production inputs and has strong resistance to diseases,? he said. ?It is projected that the country will be able to achieve a shrimp production volume in excess of 100,000 metric tons in five years.?

Paras said the current production was 30,000 metric tons of white shrimps and 24,000 metric tons of prawns a year.

Shrimp producers have expressed confidence that the Philippines can soon become the No. 2 shrimp exporter in the world, after China.

The Philippines, in the past was the world?s third-biggest shrimp producer, slid to 10th place in 2003, overtaken by Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Other big producers include Thailand, India, Indonesia and Ecuador.

Most shrimp farmers in Asia have switched to P. vannamei.

At present, the importation and culture of Pacific white shrimp is monitored by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento said that 1.5 years after the government allowed importation of P. vannamei broodstocks, the bureau had accredited seven maturation, breeding and larval rearing hatcheries in strategic locations in the country and certified 38 grow-out farms, or around 497 hectares in production area.

Among the country?s fishery products, shrimps and prawns were the second highest foreign exchange earner, bringing in an average of $100 million a year.

About 60 percent of the country?s shrimp production goes to the domestic market and the remainder is exported to Japan, South Korea, the US, Canada, Guam, and some other countries.

Sarmiento said the Philippines had the distinct advantage of being recognized worldwide as the only shrimp-producing country that shuns the use of antibiotics in the control and prevention of diseases.

The Department of Agriculture in 2001 banned the entry of P. vannamei into the Philippines to protect the local black tiger prawn from the Taura virus, which nearly wiped out shrimp farms in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. With editing by INQUIRER.net