The Philippines is still lucky that it is still free from the deadly shrimp disease called Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), which is now stalking shrimps from all over the world.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) here, said they were aware that EMS could wipe out the local shrimp industry if the disease finally enters the country. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has banned lately the importation of shrimps, lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans.
Rosario said that EMS is a deadly disease that could wipe out shrimp population overnight since it kills the juvenile at very early stage.
Luckily, the EMS now affecting shrimps in other countries is not an indigenous micro-organism, he added.
Rosario said the disease has already affected the world's leading exporters of shrimps like China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Thus there is a need to ban temporarily the importation of shrimps and other crustaceans to ensure that the EMS will not enter the country through any port.
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