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.
Because Nicaragua is charging an additional fee of $0.05 for each kilogram exported or imported by air, fresh fish exporters have increased their costs and become less competitive.
Last April 25, the International Airport Administration Companies (EAAI) of Nicaragua began to collect the new tax. See "More costs in Times of Crisis".
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,"...
In the first quarter of the year the value of fish exported was $5.1 million, 40% less than in the same period in 2015.
Fisheries sector entrepreneurs confirmed that the decline also occurred in production, but they are relying a reversal of the figures and achieving better results in the year, because in April , "... scale fishing began to show signs of recovery and we hope that in the rest of the year, with expectations of rainfall, production will normalize' "said Armando Segura, president of the Chamber of Fisheries of Nicaragua to Elnuevodiario.com.ni .
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 farmers claim that industrialists have reduced the price paid per kilo of shrimp for export by up to 30%.
While the Chamber of Fisheries in Nicaragua (CAPENIC) said that they do not set the price, but "... take up the (prices) set by international markets," the representatives of shrimp farms reported they will have difficulties in covering their operating costs if they are forced to sell at less than $8 per shrimp of exportable size.
The increase in production to 24,500 tons and rising international prices took revenues from this category from $74 million to $150 million in three years.
In the last ten years Nicaragua has made progress in the modernization of production of farmed shrimp and improved the processes of industrialization, reaching a production of 24,500 tons in 2013. It is currently the second largest Central American producer, second only to Honduras which produced 28,900 tons in 2013.
In 2013 total production increased by 8% and foreign sales of fish, shrimp , lobsters and seafood, by 28%.
Fish production last year grew by 8%, with farmed shrimp products having the largest increase. Foreign sales of fish, shrimp, shellfish and lobsters reported a 28% increase compared to 2012, going from $192 million to $246 million at the end of 2013, according to statistics from the Center for Exports.
With the entry into force seven years ago of the Free Trade Agreement with U.S., Nicaragua's exports to the country have increased by 133%.
The country has become more attractive to investors, it sectors have become technical and Nicaraguan small and medium enterprises have managed to benefit from technical assistance programs.
The products that have been favored the most by the FTA signed by Central America and the Dominican Republic are green coffee, meat, seafood, sugar, textiles and cheese.
During 2012, exports of fisheries products amounted to 40,000 tons, and the expansion of the territorial sea has allowed for greater growth projections which must be underpinned by more technology.
Domestic consumption of seafood in Nicaragua is very small, just a pound a year per capita, therefore the exports represent 94% of production. The United States, Europe, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean are the main buyers of the product.
The sector, which showed a decline of 3% in January 2012, expects to close the year with growth of 4.6%, led by the production of farmed shrimp.
Armando Segura, executive director of the Chamber of Fisheries of Nicaragua (CAPENIC), said, "It's been a substantial recovery, we are reversing the trend from earlier this year."
"According to the latest report by the IMAE, this result has been led by the production of farmed shrimp, due to good weather conditions in shrimp farms", reported Laprensa.com.ni.
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.