With the participation of 73 Ecuadorian and foreign companies, a fair with more than 100 stands and a scientific and technical congress, the Aqua Expo El Oro 2023 began on the night of June 11 in the city of Machala, the capital of the province. Orense, which brings together important players in the country’s aquaculture industry.

At the event, which is being held until this Friday, July 13, the participation of 18 international and Ecuadorian speakers is planned, who will deal with topics of interest and importance for the aquaculture sector in different aspects: animal health, nutrition, production, management, technology, market, environment and risk prevention.

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Aqua Expo El Oro 2023 is expected to be visited by more than 2,000 people. The next Aqua Expo event will be held from October 23 to 26 at the Guayaquil Convention Center.

During the inauguration, José Antonio Camposano, Executive President of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), highlighted the role of the union as a representative of the industry. “Its fundamental role is to be a technical benchmark that ensures the competitive development of the entire value chain of the best shrimp in the world,” the leader said.

On the other hand, Marcelo Vélez, president of the CNA Board of Directors, highlighted and paid tribute to the pioneers of the aquaculture sector, since the Chamber recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. “Through their hard work, they have succeeded in making the aquaculture sector a pillar of the Ecuadorian economy, creating new jobs and foreign exchange for the country,” he said.

However, Vélez also referred to the problems that this sector is currently going through. “Today we are in a very complex, globalized world that is paying, so to speak, the debts it contracted with public policies to fight the COVID pandemic,” said the leader, who added that “it is a path we cannot avoid, there are no magical formula to disappear and I am sure that as a shrimp sector we will be able to face it”.

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Vélez recalled the difficult episodes that the sector overcame as a white streak, assuring that shrimp farmers in the province of El Oro learned on that occasion how to produce efficiently in order to prosper.

“This kind of experience makes me believe in the ability of our supply chain members to turn this serious problem we have today into an opportunity to reinvent ourselves,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Axel Vedani, undersecretary for aquaculture, indicated: “The success of aquaculture production will not be ensured by regulations, nor by legal barriers to the production sector, at any of its stages; but productive improvement and efficiency in its processes. Hence the importance of such events, where the topic is always adapted to the reality the sector is going through”.