INFOPESCA Internacional 36

Sellers and buyers can also influence the quality of seafood: the case of Central America
By Claudia Stella Beltrán Turriago
There is a lot to do in order to increase the domestic consumption of seafood in our countries. The first thing is to improve the product, as well as transport logistics and sales, the price and promotion. The author has been living in Central America for many years, from where she has been working on a diagnosis about the behaviour of sellers and consumers and its incidence on the final quality of seafood products, both in popular marketplaces and in sophisticated supermarkets. Everything can become better, and she proposes some alternatives, always having in mind that the consumer’s role is always essential.

Fish trade flourish in the golden triangle of Southeast Asia
by Sudari Pawiro
Fish trade among the neighbouring ASEAN countries of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia has been going on for a long time, on a moderate scale. Fresh/chilled and live fish from Indonesia and Thailand have been traditionally exported to Malaysia and Singapore while Malaysia has been exporting high value fresh fish to Singapore. In recent years, more two-way trade has evolved among all these countries. High per capita consumption of seafood in these countries, and with favourable economic conditions, direct fish trade among these countries is expected to expand and grow further in the future.

Fish preservation by means of irradiation
By Edy Valdés
Irradiation of food is an efficient method to enlarge the product’s shelflife. These techniques help to prevent buds, insects, parasites and to reduce microorganisms. The method has been widely used in spices. The story of irradiation technology and of its use in food is described in this article, and also details an experiment on fish carried out in her country.

Reproduction and breeding of pacamã
By Ronald Kennedy Luz, Yoshimi Sato and José C. E. dos Santos
More and more native freshwater species emerge as potentially interesting for aquaculture in our region. This article refers to pacamã, a fish which farming offers many alternatives, from re-stocking to aquarism, including its use as food. The authors describe the operations that allow its repoduction and breeding in captivity.,

Workers propose a project for responsible fisheries
By Sergio Colo
The development of the fishery industry in Uruguay had its peak in the seventies, with an industry that was oriented torwards the export of frozen fish, and based on a limited number of species. In last years dramatic changes have been observed (drop of market demand, reduction of catches and species diversification), which has resulted in a reality which is very different to what was seen in the beginnings. An experienced crew member tells the story from the point of view of the labour unions while also describes the spirit of a project which is alternative to the model that has been ruling so far.

The “domestic markets projects” goes ahead: workshops have been made in many Latin American cities
By 0NFOPESCA
The FAO ProjectTCP/RLA/3111 (Improvement of the domestic market seafood in the Latin American and Caribbean Region) has been referred and described in a previous issue of Infopesca Internacional (Number 32, oct/dic 2007). The essential idea is to promote the domestic and intra-regional consumpion of fishery and aquaculture products, by improving the marketing conditions and assuring quality all along the distribution chain. The realization of workshops was planned among the project’s activities. These workshops are being coordinated by the national counterparts in each country. The target audience are people directly involved with seafood sales (fishmongers and distributors), although other members of the distribution- chain are also invited (producers and consumers, academia, marketing and inspection officers and representatives of related sectors.