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Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional aquaculture production is progressing at rates above world averages in recent years. However, rate of growth in the region is diminishing – even though market prospects are bright and open – as a reflection of complicated governance issues, increasing environmental concerns, poor planning, disease outbreaks and other reasons. Farmed production is highly concentrated in a few countries: Chile, Brazil and Ecuador account for 77 percent of aquaculture volumes and 78 percent of the values during 2012–2014. As well, farmed outputs depend on a very limited number of species (salmonids, shrimp, tilapia and mussels account for 86 percent of these products in 2012–2014). Even though current statistics show that over 90 species are being farmed in recent years, most of them contribute negligible quantities.

Regional consumption of fish is very limited (it is the lowest among continents) and therefore domestic demand has not been a good driver for aquaculture, which depends more on export possibilities and its ability to create employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Exports have allowed creation of a modern, efficient and globally competitive processing industry in many LAC countries, while others rely more on small and medium-scale primary and secondary producers which supply mainly local markets. Countries such as Brazil and Mexico are large importers of seafood, even though they still have plenty of opportunities for further aquaculture development. Chile is the most important aquaculture producer and exporter within the region, being the second world producer of salmonids and mussels.

Until recently, regional aquaculture production was based mainly on introduced species (salmon, trout, tilapia, shrimp), for which technology was widely available. Currently, however, most diversification efforts are concentrated on native species, a fact that requires more consistent and focused R&D, and longer periods to develop the necessary technologies for these purposes. This strategy also imposes severe market challenges, as native species are not necessarily well known the world over, and therefore require substantial financial and managerial efforts to become established in foreign destinations; local demand in most cases is not high enough to allow for reaping the benefits of economies of scale in production and marketing.

Even if the region has plenty of room for aquaculture expansion in the coming decades, it still depends on foreign technologies and on governance, bureaucracies and planning schemes that need to be revised and dramatically improved to achieve sustainable progress and a larger contribution to societies. Until now, most regional expansion efforts have centered on the development of technologies and on environmental issues; lately it has become clear that management and governance issues, and the relations of aquaculture with local communities and populations are at the center of worries that need to be addressed to realize the full potential of this young industry.

More developed economies, the main consumers of seafood in the world, will continue being the main markets for fish in the coming decades. However, they do not necessarily have the conditions to produce the aquatic products they require. Therefore, they will continue to depend on seafood imports for their populations, and here the LAC region is extremely well suited to supplying their needs, as well as those of its own population. A well-planned and organized industry in this area has very attractive development prospects for the coming decades.