Shrimp industry

THE SHRIMP INDUSTRY IN ECUADOR

The shrimp industry started in Ecuador towards the year of 1969. Farmers who started in the business did not have enough information about the cultivation. Originally they started by capturing the shrimp seeds from the oceans or estuaries and then transport them, in plastic containers, into the breeding pools. These seeds were maintained in the pools under specific conditions. The water had to be under certain temperature, and the larvaes were fed following nutritional patterns. The seeds lasted in these pools por a period of 4 to 8 months until they turned into adult age. Then they were ready for being reaped and commercialized.

The original size of a pool was between 20 and 100 hectare, but today the ideal size is only of 10 to 25 hectare. Normally, the pool shape is rectangular, but some shrimp farmers opt for the trapezoidal ones depending on their convenience.

Most of the shrimp farms are located near the ocean, where farmers can pump salt water into the pools.

Ecuador is the first country in exportations of captive shrimp with a production of 120000 tons of shrimp, which have produced earnings of lots of money only defeated by the petroleum. Also the shrimp industry has given employment to more than 500,000 ecuadorian people.

The principal buyer of Ecuadorian shrimp Is The United States with a 42%, also other important buyers are: Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, etc.

Technorati Tags industry,shrimp,farms,pools,ecuador