Fish on ice in a retail stand. File photo.
In 2022, as part of the economic diversification of the country, Venezuela registered a 13% increase in seafood exports if compared with 2021, an increase of over 5,000 tons of fish.
According to the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Juan Carlos Loyo, among the most exported marine species are: tajali, red snapper, curbina, and shrimp.
“In the case of shrimp, it is one of the main species at the export level, just like crab and tajali,” said the minister.
In 2021, Venezuela exported a total of 44,059 tons of fish, reported a press release from the ministry.
Likewise, Loyo pointed out that in this 2023, the ministry’s main goal is to bring this important protein to the entire national territory through fish fairs.
#Ahora | Instalado el Estado Mayor de Pesca y Acuicultura, edo Falcón, esto cumpliendo instrucciones del pdte @NicolasMaduro para reimpulsar el trabajo junto a los Conppa y contribuir con el fortalecimiento de la economía en la Nueva Época.@Jcloyo#SerieDelCaribeGranCaracas2023 pic.twitter.com/asutMaw8N9
— MinpescaVE 🐟 (@Minpescave2) February 10, 2023
The fisher: fundamental actor of the productive process
Loyo noted that in 2008, under former president Hugo Chávez, Venezuela became the first country to outlaw bottom trawling (or “dragging”), a process in which large ships (trawlers) tear up and destroy the ocean floor that has been condemned by environmentalists. In addition, Venezuela’s fishing laws permitted workers in the fishing industry fisher to regain sovereignty over their local hydrobiological resources. Chávez created the Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture as a government organization devoted to the responsible management of the fishing industry and its workers.
“Artisanal fishing has historically been a bulwark of the Bolivarian Revolution,” Loyo said. “Since the Bolivarian government, fishers have been subject to laws that recognize them as a fundamental actor in the productive process.”
At the beginning of February, the General Staff of Fisheries and Aquaculture was installed in the state of Falcón in order to reinvigorate fishing development in that region in the west of Venezuela
(RedRadioVE) by Yucsealis Rincon
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
