Shrimp ponds drying out

Shrimp ponds drying out

SEMARANG: Over 5,000 hectares of shrimp ponds -- almost one-
fifth of entire ponds in the province -- are badly in need of
water due to the prolonged drought, which has inflicted a total
financial loss amounting to Rp 4.9 billion (US$2.24 million).

Spokesperson for the provincial fisheries office, Yoes Achmad
Suryatna, said yesterday the affected shrimp ponds were located
in the Demak, Pati and Jepara regencies.

He said better technology was required to manage the ponds
during the dry season.

Most of the 28,610 hectares of shrimp ponds in Central Java
are managed by traditional methods. There are 2,750 hectares of
shrimp ponds run by appropriate technology while advanced
technology is applied to manage 1,053 hectares of the remaining
ponds.(har/sim)