Aquaculture continues to grow in economic importance. The main reason for this is the quantifiable contribution aquaculture is making in many countries to fill the growing gap between supply and demand for fisheries products. This gap continues to widen because of increasing human populations and the static growth rates of capture fisheries brought about by declines in stocks and the increasing cost of obtaining fish through conventional methods. Although this gap can (and in some cases is already) being met by alternatives, such as inexpensive poultry and white meats, aquaculture particularly provides consumers with a choice of fresh products.
Aquaculture is also evident in earning foreign exchange for many countries through the export of high-value products. It also creates employment, particularly in economically depressed coastal and remote regions, and contributes to the household economy of rural farmers.
This ninth regional survey prepared by the Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP) covers the existing aquaculture sector in the countries of the Latin America region, namely Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
This present survey is not exhaustive. It has been prepared by Pedro Noriega-Curtis (Mexico) and Jose Vera Rivas (Peru) in a relatively brief desk study. They have been helped, however, by the many national aquaculture coordinators and administrators who undertook similar national reviews as pare of preparatory planning studies organized by the Support to the Regional Aquaculture Activities for Latin America and the Caribbean project (AQUILA). This group gathered for a technical meeting on Aquaculture Planning in Caracas, Venezuela, in May 1989. This ADCP review was therefore delayed until this large body of information was assembled, particularly as, for the most part, it had been collected on the sectoral framework prepared by ADCP. The contributions of these aquaculturists through the region are therefore gratefully acknowledged. For some countries of this newly active aquaculture region detailed information is still difficult to obtain. The ADCP apologizes for any omissions and errors which may exist in the survey, and hopes that these can be corrected in an up-dated survey. New information and notification of changes and errors should be indicated to the ADCP in the Fisheries Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome. The detailed table of contents illustrates the range of information which, hopefully, will be assembled in due course for all regions.
The survey is directed toward administrators, executives, and managers who require broad overviews, rather than for scientists and technologists who require detailed information about species and practices. It is the ninth of a series of regional surveys. To this end, the ADCP hopes that the reader will find the information described here useful.
Colin E. Nash
Craig B. KenslerRome, 1989
Acknowledgment
A special vote of thanks to the FAO/Italy AQUILA Project is hereby expressed for its valuable contribution to the preparation of this Survey by having granted access to its reports on the state of aquaculture of nineteen countries of the region.
