Archive for March 7, 2013
There are 57 aquiculture farms and a great number waiting to get started
The production from fish farming in Panama grew by 127% between 2010 and 2011. A recent survey conducted by the Comptroller’s Office indicated that there are 35 shrimp farms, 22 fish farms, and 4 larva production centers. The study showed that between 2010 and 2011 farmed shrimp production grew by 13.9%, farmed fish by 127% from 323,842 pounds in 2010 to 737,863 pounds in 2011. More than 60% of this production was exported.
The administrator of the Aquatic Resource Authority of Panama (ARAP, Spanish acronym), Giovanni Lauri, stated that tilapia has the highest production at 500,000 lbs annually and is concentrated in the Bayano River/Lake area. “In the future, aquaculture will take on greater dynamism becuase there are many projects with business potential that will attract the interest of investors,” Lauri added. He believes in aquaculture as an alternative to catching fish because there is not enough fish for local consumption due to overfishing and Panama is beginning to import fish. “If we don’t take the steps now, it will be too late later on because the future of fishing is not promising,” he said.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations indicated that between 2010 and 2011 fish catch grew by 2.2% worlwide while aquaculture production grew by 6.6%. Also, 58% of the total fish production was from fishing and 42% from aquaculture.
Lauri said that there are successful fish farming operations in Panama, such as trout production in Boquete (Truchas de Bambito website) and cobia production in Colon (Open Blue website). He stated that ARAP also has research projects such as the Rural Aquaculture Development and Propagation Program that produced 600 pounds of tilapia in 2012. There is sea farming station for developing shrimp farming in the sea. Other important projects are the raising cobia in Puerto Armuelles (near Panama’s border with Costa Rica) and raising of barramundi, a fresh water fish, by an Australian company. ARAP is researching the raising other freshwater species such as sabalo in Darien Province. Also, there is interest in studying the feasability of growing macro algae in the Caribbean and micro algae in the Pacific to be an alternative feed for aquaculture, replacing fish meal and fish oil.
An important research project is the comparative study of yellowfin and bluefin tuna to determine the feasability of raising yellowfin tuna in Panama. This project is jointly sponsored by Kinki University (Japan), the InterAmerican Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and its Achotines Laboratory in Los Santos Province, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and ARAP.
The ex-administrator of ARAP, Richard Pretto, recommended that an important measure to prevent the dissolution of ARAP and its integration into the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MIDA), as announced by the government, would be to contract professionals knowledgeable in freshwater and seawater aquaculture and establish agreements for technical assistance and the exchange of species. He added that Panama has great potential in aquaculture and should conduct more studies by obtaining non-refundable resources.
The Pesqueros, SA Group completed the process for obtaining the ISO 9001 certificate issued by Bureau Veritas. Pesqueros is a Panamanian company with 30 years experience in the market of supplying industrial fishing equipment such as cables, chains, ropes, heavy duty hardware and safety equipment, as well as supplying products for sports fishing enthusiasts.
Omar Diaz, the business director, explained about the arduous process it took to obtain the certification as well as the company’s objectives. He emphasized that achieving this certificate insures the company’s productivity and efficiency in its organization ensuring customer satisfaction and positioning itself as a major competitor in the domestic and international market. (Spanish article)
International Oceanic Enterprise Panama 