Last Thursday the organization "Promotion for the Development / Agricultural Technical Center" (PROMEDEV/CTA) held its 3rd briefing around the theme "The development of aquaculture and fishing, an economic opportunity for Haiti." Many topics were discussed during the day whose the dominant topic was aquacuture. It was also an opportunity to explain to the citizens that agriculture is not limited only to cutures of vegetables and livestock, but also included fishing and aquaculture, including the production of fish (fish farming), of shellfish (shellfish farming), of crustaceans (crawfish and shrimp farming) or algae (seaweed culture).

Support to fishing regions in Haiti must be a new approach for the authorities and partners involved in the agricultural sector in Haiti in order to open new doors for the fisheries and aquaculture that can lead to new economic opportunities.

Interest in the development of aquaculture in Haiti has been highlighted by the Haitian authorities with some cooperation and agencies (Cuba, FAO, etc...), but the population is still waiting for durable solutions. Several lakes in different regions of the country have already been the subject of experimentation and study. It is sufficient to revalue them.

Haiti has 21,000 acres of water. Lake Azuei [brackish pond] constitutes more than half of this area with 11,500 hectares. Lake Azuei has a capacity of fish harvest of 2,000 metric tons, but the volume of fishing currently does not exceed 50 tons per year due to low fish stocking rates. Haiti consumes 17,000 metric tons of fish, but produces only 5,000 tonnes. The annual import of 12,000 tonnes of fish is estimated at nearly 10 million U.S. dollars.

Aquaculture has already made its proofs in other countries in the Caribbean region. Farms fish and/or of shrimp are common in Jamaica and Panama, where the sale of products play an important role in the economy of both countries.

The private sector is interested in this activity because of its economic reliability and/or profitability. Already in Haiti, many investors are involved in fish farming or of shrimp, but so far the implementation of the first real commercial aquaculture farm, slow to emerge...

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8019-haiti-agriculture-the-beekeeping-and-aquaculture-receive-government-assistance.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6596-haiti-agriculture-an-aquaponics-farm-in-grace-village.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6564-haiti-agriculture-aquaculture-a-solution-for-the-future.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-5078-haiti-agriculture-aquaculture-in-macary-receives-assistance-from-spain.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1283-haiti-agriculture-fishing-for-investors.html

HL/ HaitiLibre