Mexico counting on fishing and more aquaculture
Being a neighbour of the United States with its hunger for seafood, Mexico is in a good position to provide some of the 80% of fish and shellfish consumed every year, all of which is imported, and much of it comes from farms, as is seen when one looks at the top ten individual species consumed in 2009 (2008 numbers in brackets);
1) Shrimp, 4.10 pounds (4.10 pounds)- mostly farmed
2) Canned tuna, 2.50 pounds (2.80 pounds)- some farmed
3) Salmon, 2.04 pounds (1.84 pounds)- much of this farmed
4) Alaska Pollock, 1.45 pounds (1.34 pounds)
5) Tilapia, 1.21 pounds (1.19 pounds)- farmed
6) Catfish, 0.85 pounds (0.92 pounds)- farmed
7) Crab, 0.59 pounds (0.61 pounds)
8) Cod, 0.42 pounds, (0.44 pounds)- some of this farmed
9) Clams, 0.41 pounds (0.42 pounds)- much of this farmed
10) Pangasius, 0.36 pounds- farmed
As the Latin American Herald Tribune reports, the Mexican government wants to restructure the fishing and aquaculture industry in Mexico, a country that has about 12,000 kilometers of coastline;
Funds provided to the National Aquaculture and Fishing Commission, or Conapesca, will be used for “the sustainable development and organization of the fishing and aquaculture industry,” the secretariat said. Some 2.43 billion pesos ($198 million, €150 million), or 61 percent, of the budget will go “toward supporting competitiveness via the Productive Assets and Structural Problems Management programs,” the secretariat said. The National Inspection and Monitoring Program and the Agricultural Areas Electric Infrastructure Program, or PIEZA, both of which focus on the environment, will get 650 million pesos ($52.8 million, €40 million). The government wants to restructure the fishing and aquaculture industry in Mexico, a country that has about 12,000 kilometers (7,456 miles) of coastline, the secretariat said. The priority of fisheries policy in 2011 will be “environmental protection” and providing support for purchases of marine fuel, the secretariat said. The agriculture industry accounts for about 3.6 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product and employs 12 percent of the labor force, the National Statistics and Geography Institute said in a recent report.
