INFOPESCA Internacional 32

Domestic markets in Latin America and the reasons for a project
By Roland Wiefels
The domestic markets for seafood are notoriously increasing in Latin America. However, the regional per-caput average consumption is still below the world average. This reality suggest that there still is a lot of work to do, especially in the area of improving the product’s quality and distribution. Training the professionals involved in these areas is thus an essential first step. The article was extracted from a recent interview made by a Brazilian publication (which explains the various references to that country); addresses all the above topics and presents the features of a FAO- technical assitance project that aims at improving domestic fish consumption in the 11 INFOPESCA’s member countries.

Shrimp from Costa Rica: production and trade profiles
By Lindsay Flores
Shrimp is one of the main exporting items for the Costa Rican fishery and aquaculture sectors. As this industry absorbs much labor force, it represents a main hope for the less favoured regions in the country. While Costa Rica has reached some bilateral trade agreements with some main importing countries- which has had a favourable effect on the shrimp industry in particular- at the same time the country has suffered the exclusion from another countries, in general due to non-tariff reasons. The article describes these processes and delineates the possible solutions in the future.

FAO - Piloting fish utilization in Peru, Eritrea and Madagascar
By Franz Teutscher
The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries calls for fishery resources be exploited in a sustainable way with maximum socio-economic benefits for nutrition, employment and income, both nationally and internationally. Piloting is an important tool for governments when the private sector by itself is not able or willing to do so. Assisting governments in piloting work in fish utilization is thus a justified activity for any organisation, as long as the piloting work itself is well justified. In the examples shown in this article, assistance has been provided by FAO, an organisation with long international experience and multidisciplinary expertise.

Recent developments in the software fisheries technology
By Frank Chalkling
The 19 issue of this magazine (July/September 2004 ) contained an article on a software that had been created by a fishing skipper. The product was registered as Acrux. The author recently released Acrux 2.0, with some developments that allow it to adapt better to the operative needs and to the current economic situation of the fishing sector. This new software has been presented at a conference held this year in Spain, where it was very welcome by many fishing businessmen and academics.

Ornamental fish in Brazil: Producction and trading status
By Maria Stella Armbrust, Ruy Bessa Lopes and Fabiana Fracassi
Modern aquaculture can be divided into three different lines according to its objectives: food, sport and ornamental The latter is probably as old as the former. Aquarium fish culture is reported to go back to ancient Egypt. The market for ornamental fish has expanded during the last 50 years, with millions of aquarists spread all over the world. The article presents gives a world overview of this market, with a special focus in the case of Brazil.

Sharks, rays and chimaera in the Gulf of San Matías, Patagonia
By Marilú Estalles, Edgardo E. Di Giácomo, Nidia Coller and María R. Perier
The stocks of cartilaginous species have been declining worldwide for many years. They have been exposed to the effects of overfishing, both as target and as by-catch species. Being sensitive of this situation, a group of Argentinean scientists assesed the current status of many cartilaginous species living in the Patagonian waters. They have collected data that could be essential at the time of facing a sustainable management policy for these resources.