Typology of Smallholder and Commercial Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) Farms, including Threats and Challenges in Davao Region, Philippines

Answers to Reviewer 1

Questions

Answers

I had the opportunity to read the Sustainability-1628960 study by Clapano et al., on the Characteristics, Threats and Challenges of Shrimp Production among Small-Holder and Commercial Penaeus vannamei Shrimp Farmers in Davao Region, Philippines.

I found the work interesting and topical in this time of crisis due to the pandemic covid-19.

It was based on N=41 respondents, shrimp farmers, interviewed using a semi-structured survey questionnaire and a focus group. The results are well treated.

However, there are sections of the manuscript that need to be improved.

I have outlined the minor issues that I would like to see addressed by the authors or at least better justified in the text before being considered.

My minor suggestions or comments are listed below:

Line 39 Authors authors should motivate the choice of the year 2014 which already appears old as a reference here of the exports.

Line 225-226 To enable readers to read and understand Fig. 2 without recourse to the text, the authors should provide an explanatory legend for "Voc'I" reported in Fig. 2B relating to the education of respondents and specify a total number of respondents or shrimp farmers interviewed.

L321 the level of level of dissolved oxygen = the level of dissolved oxygen. L325 What is meant by “water contamination”?

The paper can be further improved by briefly adding a paragraph on some elements of the biology and ecology of the shrimp Penaeus vannamei in the chapter "Introduction" L34-77 or "Methods" L104-150.

L362-438 The great weakness of this manuscript is in the discussion which is essentially local.

I suggest at least the stocking density aspect be discussed in 4.1 (L404-409) and 4.2 (L430-434) with the density practiced outside the Philippines.

L569-584 All these good wishes are excellent, but I wonder about their feasibility and therefore their success without a good training of farmers on good shrimp aquaculture practices, which should be prioritized in the list of support that the government should provide.

=This was already addressed on the same paragraph; 2014 data was provided to show the comparison of export trend from 2019.

=This was already changed to vocational in Figure 2B

=It means the water used in culturing was already carrying diseases pathogens. See lines L335

e.g. water contaminated with diseases or pathogenic organisms, pesticides, and other chemical substances brought by flooded water

=Fast growing characteristic of vannamei was inserted.

=High stocking density in Mekong Delta was used as an example of farms practices that indicates intensification practice.

=This was explained in recommendation section 6, which is to provide trainings and seminars to farmers regarding shrimp-related topics or objectives to help them mitigates the mentioned threats and challenges.

The authors must make their comparative approach more pronounced.

The rationale of their paper is a contrast between small-scale shrimp farms and commercial shrimp farms in the Davao region of the Philippines, so they should emphasise that comparison throughout the paper.

Hence, in the Abstract, they should explain how a valid comparison can be made between 38 small-scale farms and three commercial farms.

They should also complement their statement that the average profit per hectare of small-scale farms was Php 1,040,000,000 with an equivalent statement about the average profit per hectare of commercial farms.

They should also explain why on lines 161-2, they say “Only the data from small-holder farms (N=38) were used in the analysis as there were only three data representatives from the commercial farms”.

Why exclude data that are crucially important for comparative purposes merely because there are few cases?

Also, the authors should introduce comparisons between small-scale and commercial farms in section 3.3 (Prevalence of Disease); section 4.2 (Cultural Practices); section 4.3 (Prevalence of Marine Pollution and Disease); section 4.4 (Challenges in Time of Pandemic Coping Strategies).

Also, the authors should discuss the comparison between small-scale and commercial farms in the Discussion section 4, where at present it is completely ignored.

The Conclusion section 5 brings the comparison between small-scale and commercial farms back into focus, but there is no Concluding verdict on which is more sustainable.

The Recommendations section 6 never mentions the comparison: Why not?

=Commercials farms are mainly large farms that was operated by companies. In the Davao region, there were less than 10 commercial farms that operates, the number 3 is equivalent to approximately 30% representation of the total commercial farms in the area and for the number of small-holder farms, this was more than 30% that is existing in the area as shrimp farming is highly capital intensive and not many farmers can afford a capital or has a capital access from inputs to land and water access.

=We have disregarded the use of amount cost but rather we used the percentage or proportion in order to understand the profit percentage better. For instance, the input cost is around 60% of the total revenue, so the profit would be around 40% of the total revenue, this is because  of differing reports of costs as well as different reports of income and many farmers are reluctant to report the exact amount of profit.

=These data are exclusive for socio-demographic matter and only small-holder farms were individually owned while the commercial farms are owned by corporates.

4.1 Comparative characteristics of both farms were introduced such as farm size, construction of ponds, purpose of production, availability of technician, and so on.

4.2. Practices like pond preparation and feeding are differentiated under this section.

4.3. Perceived causes of marine pollution and diseases were explained how shrimp farming practices has affected the environment. Factors such as waste disposal, use of chemicals, mangrove conversion and improper implementation of biosecurity that prevent spread or entrance of diseases, as well as treatment and filtration.

4.4. Impacts of market disruption due to the pandemic were explained for both small-holder and commercial farms under this section.

5. Commercial farms are more intensified and technology advanced, the reasons why they are more productive and profitable. While small-holder farms remain partially dependent on ways and knowledge they used to have over the past years of farming, and wasn’t able to adapt new technologies that will help them improve their production.

6. Shrimps farmers in both small-holder and commercial farms have been experiencing the abovementioned threats and challenges. Therefore, the statement was addressed in general. 

=I think the study is valuable in itself as this document the first assessment of P. vannamei shrimp farms in the Philippines. That in itself is valuable information that makes it a baseline study for a long period of time. Most of the studies in the past were locked on diseases as well as how to farm shrimps but sociodemographic assessments in general and typology of farms were lacking in the Philippines

Reviewer 2

Questions

Answers

I don't think that the drawed conclusion has some values to shrimp farmers in Philippine or other regions.

This is appropriate an investigation report for administrative agents of Philippine.

=I think the study is valuable in itself as this document the first assessment of P. vannamei shrimp farms in the Philippines. That in itself is valuable information that makes it a baseline study for a long period of time. Most of the studies in the past were locked on diseases as well as how to farm shrimps but sociodemographic assessments in general and typology of farms were lacking in the Philippines

This manuscript entitled " Characteristics, Threats and Challenges of Shrimp Production among Small-Holder and Commercial Penaeus vannamei Shrimp Farmers in Davao Region, Philippines" by Clapano et al. is an interesting manuscript focused in evaluate de cultural and operational characterisitcs of shrimp farms on Davao region.

The manuscript is well written, where the methodology, results and discussion are in accordance with the stated objectives.

However, there are details that can be modified to improve the manuscript, considering that the journal is of wide access worldwide, it would be convenient to expand the discusion with the results obtained.

Although the paper is interesting and the information generated is valuable, the evaluation is very regional, only in one region of the Philippines, where the total sample is 41, of which three are commercial level farms and the rest are smal holders.

It is necessary to address in the discussion, how these data are representative of the operational and cultural management in the Philippines?

How many farms are registered in the Philippines? Does this information exist?

What percentage of the country's total does it represent the present study?

In addition, Penaeus vannamei is the most cultivated species in the world.

Are there similar studies in Latin American regions?

Are the characteristics of the farms very different?

Are the management practices different?

Are the disease problems different?

and/or were the impacts of pandemics different?

In the abstract, between lines 23 to 27, the costs are mentioned, however it is done in local currency (Php), it is necessary to change it to dollars or if the space allows it, to change it as in lines 38 and 41, where the cost is denoted in dollars.

The same in line 513, where the product cost per kilo unit is mentioned.

This is a journal of international impact, so a common currency reference is required.

=The fact that the study was regional and funded by the Department of Agriculture in the region is a testament to the fact that there are now widespread shrimp farms of P. vannamei in the Philippines, scattered although not as dense as their previous locations in the Negros Island before that was decimated by diseases in the mid and late 1990s.

=There are no updated number of farms in the Philippines from BFAR, old data exists.

=The study’s focused is in the region and this is representative of other smallholder and commercial shrimp farms in the Philippines. Their difference is mainly on intensification of culture and capitalization. The smallholder farms have less capital compared to the richer corporation and export oriented multinational companies that invests in commercial farms that are highly biosecure.

=All questions were addressed in the revised discussion

=This was revised already in the introduction section

=This was revised already