i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
News
i i i i i i i i i i
Antonio Garza de Yta The solution is not to close our borders to the importation of fish, but to have a comprehensive plan for import substitution: Part one
I
n recent days there has been talk of banning the importation of fish fillets into Mexico as a measure to counteract the effects generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this is to support local producers, since fish and seafood markets are between 60-70 percent reliant on exports. This temporary measure is one which I believe is convenient and adequate. However, many people have suggested that the import blockade be made permanently, in order to “support local producers.” Although I understand this position, as the fishing and aquaculture industry is the sector most affected by the pandemic according to comments from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the solution is not necessarily to close the borders to imports, but perhaps to implement a truly comprehensive plan for import substitution. First of all, I would like to raise some notable facts. The first of these is that, in 2017, Mexico imported the equivalent of 375,000 tonnes of live tilapia and base fish combined; while the national production in controlled systems was only 55,000 tonnes. The second is that one of the most important achievements of past aquaculture-oriented administration was to increase the
consumption of fish and shellfish from 2012 to 2017 by 3.1 kg-per-capita-per-year, but it is not mentioned that imports contributed to 71 percent to this increase (the equivalent of 2.2 kg-per-capita-per-year). Effectively, it is imports that raised this figure by approximately 238 percent. The question is not, then, to close the border and stagnate, the real challenge is to go from those 55,000 tonnes to 430,000 tonnes in local, controlled systems. But not only that, we have to reach this figure with the same or better-quality fish and at the same or lower price than current import rates. The challenge is not only to maintain this constant, but the real challenge is to go from being a country that consumes approximately 12.5 kgper-capita-per-year to being a country that consumes 20 kg-percapita-per-year. This is not only about producing fish, but about producing a product that the final consumer requires and wants. We cannot produce whole fish and force the consumer to adapt to what we produce, the aquaculture industry is the one that has to adapt to consumer requirements. At a minimum, our comprehensive plan for import substitution must cover the following points: 1. Market analysis 2. Aquaculture development programmes 3. Professionalisation and capacity development 4. Investment and infrastructure programmes 5. Campaigns to promote the consumption of fish and shellfish 6. Market access and digitisation programmes 7. Support from associations In addition to the aforementioned plan, which I will detail in my column in the next issue of International Aquafeed, it is essential that Mexico make aquaculture a priority activity. There is no reason why it should not be done this way, since the sector produces the most efficient forms of animal protein production with the smallest environmental footprint, it is only a matter of will ... and a lot of push on our part.
Antonio Garza de Yta, Ph.D in Aquaculture from Auburn University, President of Aquaculture Global Consulting, Director World Aquaculture Society and creator of the Certification for Aquaculture Professional (CAP) Program. He is currently Rector, Universidad Tecnológica del Mar de Tamaulipas Bicentenario.
COFCO and World Bank’s IFC partner for more sustainable soy in Brazil
C
OFCO International and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, are partnering to help improve the sustainability of soy farming in Brazil’s Cerrado Biome. IFC will support COFCO International’s subsidiary in Brazil to develop a more traceable and sustainable supply chain in the Matopiba region, including direct and indirect non pre-financed suppliers.
The work will focus on screening soy farms in Cerrado’s vulnerable Matopiba region to ensure compliance with key environmental and social criteria and build farmer capacity to apply more sustainable farming practices. Although Cerrado’s soy-related land conversion has been decreasing since 2001, the Matopiba region, comprising the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, has experienced higher land conversion rates linked to rising global demand for soy, Brazil’s main export
commodity. This partnership follows COFCO International’s recent announcement that it expects to achieve full traceability of all soy purchased directly from Brazilian farmers by 2023. It will help COFCO International to build on its work on traceability. “Traceability was never our final destination but rather a tool to go further,” says Wei Peng, Head of Sustainability with COFCO International. “With this project we will be able to further screen non prefinanced suppliers for key sustainability criteria and identify those with whom we want to engage more closely.”
18 | September 2020 - International Aquafeed