Nicaragua's fishing and aquaculture production in 2019 will be close to 175 million pounds, 6% less than production in 2018.
In the Production, Consumption and Trade Plan for the 2019-2020 cycle, the government expects a 6.4% year-on-year decline, mainly because of the implementation of management and sustainability measures for sea cucumbers, such as the closure of two additional months for all species and the permanent closure for cucumber, Café y Carajo, explains the document.
Between January and March, sales abroad totaled $16 million, which is equivalent to an 86% increase with respect to exports registered in the same period in 2017.
The increase registered during the first months of the year is explained by an increase in the volume sold coupled with an increase in the average price, which rose from $4.1 per kilogram recorded in the first quarter of 2017, to $6 per kg reported in the same 2018 period.
The industry union expects to close 2017 with 5% growth in production, and plans to focus next year on improving processes in order to increase productivity.
One of the changes proposed by fishing and aquaculture companies is to improve production processes of products such as lobster, which require special logistics,"...
Powered by shrimp farming, the gross value of fisheries and aquaculture production reached $129 million in 2014, 16.3% more than in 2013, when it totaled $113 million.
This growth is mainly due to increased shrimp production, which recorded sales of $74.7 million, of which $66.2 million came from shrimp farming and the rest from shrimp caught in the open sea.
The fisheries sector is backing shrimp as the item of greatest growth potential.
The president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Fisheries, Armando Segura, said the shrimp farming industry has maintained steady growth in recent years thanks to the application of new technologies.
The manager said that last year "there was a 'substantial' increase in productivity and the volume of exports of farmed shrimp and it is expected that this behavior will continue this year.