The high value and short gestation period of shrimps made them attractive to investors in the Philippines and other shrimp-producing nations starting in the late 1970s up to the later 1980s. "This was the period of the shrimp fever," recalled Dr. Rolando R. Platon, chief of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD) based in Tigbauan, Iloilo. During the 1990s, noted Platon, the enthusiasm for shrimp aquaculture has been dampened considerably by the repeated failures in the industry in the Philippines and abroad.

Fernandez, R. A. (1998, January 4). World shrimp industry faces uncertain future. The Philippine Star, p. 18.