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)