In a world threatened by food crisis, aquaculture may be the solution and also an excellent business opportunity.
In the history of humanity, collection was the first way of obtaining food, followed by farming. However, the potential of agriculture appears to be nearing its capacity and we must seek other ways to produce food.
In this regard the article by Luis Pichot in American Economy, says that "aquaculture appears as an indisputable opportunity of potential food production in the world. The demand scenario for the year 2050 - a population of more than 9.000 million - the only productive sector with enough expansion space to be interesting enough to occupy a significant role in food production is aquaculture."
The production of tuna in 2010 reached 9.100 metric tons, 26% higher than 2009.
Foreign sales of tuna generated $ 47 million, noted Rodríguez Mahuad, plant manager at Rianxeira Guatemala, who added that the main destination for exports were packing plants in the European Union.
Prensalibre.com collected more feedback from the manager, "this year we expect to increase exports, we are working on that".
Generates business opportunities by linking supply and demand of goods and services between Central America and the rest of the world.
Organization that operates in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama
Phone: (506) 225 4786
The country's shrimp farms on the south coast were those worst affected by tropical storm Ágatha and the eruption of the Pacaya volcano.
Natural disasters have had an impact on the dredging of ponds and on shrimp larvae. Producers say that it will take more than a year for the sector to recover.
Jorge Cabezas, general manager of Walmart subsidiary ICI, described the impact to Sigloxxi.com saying that, "we were purchasing 70% locally and importing the rest but the situation has reversed. Now we import 80%, about 5,000 lbs daily and the rest comes from Guatemalan producers".
A program launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of Spain aims to promote fish consumption in the country.
Manuel Ixquiac, coordinator of UNIPESCA, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that with "Eat healthy, eat fish," they expect consumption to increase, benefitting benefit the nation’s artisanal fishermen.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extended for another year the country’s authorization to export shrimp.
Manuel Ixquiac, head of Unipesca, Guatemala’s Fishing Authority, explained that the U.S. decided to extend the country’s authorization after conducting a yearly audit.
“This evaluation - explained Ixquiac – allows the country to continue selling the product in the U.S.
From July onwards, fishing boats in Central America will be surveilled via satellite.
Vessels fishing within 40 nautical miles of Central America, both in the Atlantic and the Pacific, will be equipped with satellite control devices, explained Heiner Mendez, from the Central American Fishing and Aquaculture Organization (Ospesca).
“No ship will be allowed to leave the port if it doesn’t have the equipment to be monitored by each country’s fishing authorities”, said Mendez, adding that these requirements won’t apply for small, artisanal fishermen.
The embargo applied on Tuesday suspends indefinitely all imports of Mexican high seas shrimp.
The Mexican Fleet failed the certification process conducted by U.S. authorities, who controlled if the boats used procedures to prevent accidental deaths of turtles while fishing for shrimp.
“Vessels must use exclusion mechanisms to allow turtles to escape from the fishing nets.
Rianxeira, a company that exports tuna from Guatemala, is studying the feasibility of building a canning plant in the country’s south.
CEO Gulliermo Rodríguez Maguad told newspaper Prensa Libre: “We are in the midst of such analysis. The country has lots of potential, but this decision will not be taken until 2011”.
Rodríguez shared his concern for the high cost of energy.
Two new collection centers for fishery products will be inaugurated today, in addition to the six already in place.
Located in Chiquimulilla, Santa Rosa and in the Port of Ocós, in San Marcos, the new centers will be able to store up to a ton of goods and also feature cold storage rooms and sales areas.
"In addition to the centers, a training program was started, assisting in better practices for quality control, commercialization and handling of sea goods", reported Elperiodico.com.gt.
Shrimp production has dropped in the region, the main reasons being overfishing and less rains.
Central America's shrimp industry is in crisis, due to less production and lower prices caused by Asian pond-reared shrimp production.
From Prensalibre.com: "'We need standardized criteria to be able to compare fishing data from the region and understand the real situation' commented Diana Araúz, director of the Panamanian Maritime Authority for Water Resources".
A study aims to determine the number of small traditional fishermen in Central America.
The research will be conducted in both litorals, Pacific and Caribbean, from Belize to Costa Rica.
Mario González Recinos is the president of the Regional Unit for Fisheries and Aquaculture. He told newspaper Prensa Libre: "We are looking for socioeconomic data, to implement support policies for the sector".
The largest activities are tuna, shrimp aquaculture and inshore fishery.
Ospesca is the fishing division of the Central American Intgration System. According to their data, over 100.000 households depend on fishing for their daily income. 25% of these are small fishermen.
Shrimp exports fell to 5.8 million pounds during the first quarter of this year, 43% less than during the same period in 2008.
The drop in demand for the product in international markets and the decline in international prices, both a product of the global economic crisis, are the main factors behind the sharp drop in exports from an industry had been registering increases of up to 232% percent in sales abroad during the last three years.
Governments of the region signed two regional aid covenants with The Billfish Foundation and OSPESCA to benefit the fishing sector.
The website of El Nuevo Diario reports: "The first signed approval of cooperation is for $ 1.5 million designated to protect Marlins in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, to do more sustainable commercial fishing and to incentive sporting fishing to be carried out in a more responsible manner."