CALBAYOG CITY—The floundering shrimp- culture industry in Samar has been given a boost with the entry of an investor who helped reopen a prawn hatchery in this city. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) led the re-opening of the Sea Rannz Prawn Hatchery in Manginoo, this city.
The ceremony signaled the recovery of the fishpond industry in Samar as the investment will also benefit fishpond owners in neighboring Sta. Margarita town. This early, locals in Calbayog and Sta. Margarita are excited with the prospect of exporting prawns to the US.
They have Jose Seward Sapalo to thank for. The country manager of Kingdom Prize Seafood Inc. came to town September last year after hearing that Samar produces the best-tasting prawns in the country. In fact, shrimp farming was a major industry in the province until the 1990s when it was decimated by the white-spot virus syndrome.
Sapalo organized 200 fishpond owners of Sta. Margarita into the United Fishpond Operators of Sta. Margarita Association (Ufosma). It was this organization that recommended Sea Rannz Prawn Hatchery which was one of the biggest in the island when it started operation in 1998 until its closure in June last year.
The 5,000-square meter hatchery is perfect not only because of its complete equipment but due to its location which is near a port where Sapalo plans to ship out two container vans of prawns every day. Also in nearby barangay Binaliw is an abandoned ice plant which he plans to convert into a processing plant and cold storage.
Sapalo talked to the Tenedero family who owns the hatchery and the two parties struck a deal: Sapalo will spend for the hatchery’s rehabilitation while the owners will operate the facility and meet the required monthly quota of three million fry worth P1.05 million.
After the ribbon-cutting on the rehabilitated hatchery, workers harvested and packed the first stocking of more than 200,000 prawn fry that were transported to the fishpond of Salvador Cruz, in Salukiki, Sta. Margarita where up to 2,500 hectares of fishponds in that town will benefit from the investment.
Cruz, who is president of Ufosma, said that the first major stocking for 100 hectares will be on Jan. 25. Each month thereafter, another 100 hectares will be provided for all fishpond operators until they cover the entire 25,000 hectares. Eventually, the supply will have to be expanded to the adjacent towns of Tarangnan and Pagsangjan. Already, Pagsangjan Mayor Ruben Palma is planning to develop 1,000 hectares of fishponds in his area.
Cruz thanked the investors for providing them inputs like feeds, lime, organic fertilizer, pro-biotics as well as packaging and processing facilities. He also thanked BFAR for issuing fishpond lease agreements to the operators which enables the government to collect taxes from leasehold permits.
Sapalo wants the processing plant and cold storage up and running by March or April in time for the first harvest from the fishponds. The plant will pack and seal the harvested prawns. He is ready to spend P200 million for the plant building, half of the amount to be loaned from a bank.
Another P40 million in equipment will be invested by his business partners namely Hienz Arnold of Germany, a senior partner of Martinez-Arnold Holdings Inc. based in Palompon, Leyte; and Christopher M. Contreras of Austin, Texas who is the operator of United Sustainable Aquaculture.
Contreras is bullish on his investment considering the US produces only less than one percent of the global demand for prawns, reason why it has to import most of its requirements especially from Thailand. He believes the Philippines is an ideal site for the business with its 12-month growth season. He is optimistic prawns from Samar will pass the American market as long as they comply with standards by using only certified organic feeds and improving the quality of their produce.
Rep. Mel Senen S. Sarmiento (First District of Samar) agreed with Contreras and advised them to come up with a checklist to follow the protocol of the world market. During the business forum that same day, the congressman thanked the investors for making his dream of turning his district into the aquaculture capital of the Philippines a reality. Also present at the business conference was freight forwarder Epsa Minosa who transports fresh and processed products.
