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Plant workers processing shrimp in Promarisco, Ecuador. (Photo: MARM)
Shrimp export value fell 23 pct in 10 years
ECUADOR
Monday, April 13, 2009, 09:20 (GMT + 9)
Export sales revenue of Ecuadorian shrimp fell 23 per cent from USD 875 million to USD 673.4 million in the ten-year period spanning between 1998 and 2008.
The volume of the same however increased over the last decade - 294.7 million pounds were shipped in 2008 against 253 million pounds ten years before, Expreso reports.
The year 1998 was a low-point year for the Ecuadorian shrimping industry: the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) had appeared and sparked a lasting industry-wide crisis.
As late as 2005, the multidisciplinary contribution of biologists, agronomists and food engineers allowed shrimp survival to be maintained at a 65 per cent survival rate per cultivated hectare as of last year.
In 2000, the total aquaculture area shrunk to 13 per cent of its former size and prompted export levels to drop by 62 per cent.
In addition, thanks to the contribution of genetics and the use of probiotics, the gramme amount demanded of each harvested shrimp grew. Shrimp specimens now surpass 22g compared to 11g in 1998.
In any event, shrimp executives have not managed to recover the USD 3.46 price per pound of harvested shrimp of ten years ago, now valued at just USD 2.09.
"Ecuadorian shrimp is recognised for its excellent quality and flavour in his varied presentations," said biologist Jaime Buendia Torres. "Behind this effort, lies an infrastructure developed over more than 45 years."
After the WSSV crisis, experts managed to breed shrimp of better quality than those of Brazil and Mexico. The Ecuadorian shrimp is "the region’s favourite," attests Buendia Torres.
Today, farmed shrimp accounts for more than 90 per cent of total Ecuadorian shrimp exports, whereas in the dawn of the aquaculture industry it only accounted for 15 per cent of the total.
"The shrimp farming sector was faced with having to stem the negative effects of the white spot syndrome, which first appeared in late 1998 and peaked in 2000, when the export of shrimp contracted by 60.3 per cent," observed the president of the Latin American Society of Aquaculture (SLA), Johnie Castro Montealegre.
The shrimp farming sector managed to overcome the crisis due to the strength of its productive infrastructure alone; the sector had never received aid from the national government.
National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA) President Cesar Monge and Foreign Commerce Vice Minister Eduardo Egas met in late February to discuss the problems currently affecting the shrimp farming sector and to identify new markets for the leading Ecuadorian product.
The fall in shrimp exports to the US and Europe plus the drop in international shrimp prices are causes of great concern for sector executives.
"The commercial opportunities and new markets are in Russia, Mexico and in the Middle East. To achieve a relatively quick opening of these markets, our work must be a cooperative effort,” Egas said.
"At the same time, talks need to be resumed with the US and maximised with Europe in order to maintain our current level of exports,” Monge sustained.
Related article:
- Shrimp industry look out for new opportunities
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
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