Arturo Matias, municipal agricultural officer, said that crabs and prawns from Orani are said to be the best of their kinds not only in the Philippines but in the world as well.
This is so, he added, because "our crabs and prawns here in Orani taste differently and more delicious than other crabs and prawns anywhere else because of the salinity of water being used by our fishpond operators, meaning the balance of saline and fresh water."
Matias disclosed that of the more than 300 fishpond operators running about a collective 900 hectares of fishpond in the whole town, about 60 per cent of them are engaged in crab and prawn production.
Arnold Villanueva, Orani fishport supervisor, related that the average volume of crabs being carried to the fishport daily ranges from 5-7 tons, while that of prawns, the volume is at an average of 5-10 tons daily.
Immense contribution
Matias revealed that the town's prawn industry has managed to contribute immensely to the municipality's revenue as prawns are being exported to neighboring countries like Japan and Taiwan while crabs are brought for selling to different places in the country primarily in the Manila area.
"About 5,000 tons of prawns are being exported monthly", Matias related.
Villanueva mentioned the top 5 exporters of the Orani fishport include A.N.A, Wellshare, H.J.R, R.L.C. Intaq and Ocean Light, all are engaged in import-export industry.
Matias said plans and programs are underway to further boost the crab and prawn industry in the town including the improvement of the fishport itself, the dredging of the municipal waterways and dismantling of illegal fish corals.
Crab and prawn are top resources for town
THE PHILIPPINES - Crab (alimango) and prawn (sugpo) distinguish themselves as Orani's top aqua-marine resources which has beneficially and continually boosted the town's local economy for years because of their export qualities.