New services and technological advances for the shrimp industry are exhibited at the Aquaexpo Guayaquil 2021

Different players from the shrimp sector came to the Aquaexpo Guayaquil 2021, in which more than 150 companies exhibit services, technological innovations, machinery and vehicles in 200 stands at the Convention Center. With biosafety measures, those attending the event arrived from 09:00 on Tuesday 26, driven by learning about the latest developments in the sector, most of which were concentrated in the scientific congress that takes place in parallel to the trade fair.

Advances in nutrition was the topic that opened this forum, led by Alejandro Daqui, from the Cargill company, who presented the technology used for early shrimp feeding offered by this firm. The expert recalled that in the last two years the shrimp industry has experienced a significant cost impact.

“63% of Ecuadorian shrimp is exported to Asia, particularly China, last year and with COVID-19 prices plummeted, apart from the volume being lost, a little because of the pandemic and a little because the supply chain disappeared both in India and Ecuador, which caused a loss of competitiveness, ”explained Daqui, who, faced with this problem, indicated that the sector applied strategies to regain competitiveness.

More than 30 experts will present the situation of the global shrimp market at the Aquaexpo Guayaquil 2021

The first, said the expert, is already carried out by laboratories generating larvae with a genetic potential much greater than that seen in swimming pools, which translates into growth and feed conversion.

The second element, he added, has to do with the strategy of the market to attend, since he assured that a large part of Ecuadorian shrimp exports are now made to the United States and Europe with other presentations and sizes than those used in the Asian market , which forces the industry to take much more care of costs when producing.

“When you export tails, you add value, the loss of profit for each pound of shrimp produced is more shocking,” explained Daqui, who said that the early nutrition strategy seeks to optimize through feed, which represents between 60 % and 70% of the cost of shrimp production.

Meanwhile, Vitapro and its brand Nicovita shared experiences and good practices related to the integration of technologies and technological scaling, which strengthen shrimp production models.

Gabriel Freire, chief technology specialist at Vitapro Ecuador, asserted that competitiveness followed by maximizing positive results are some of the challenges facing the industry.

“For this reason, it is essential to conceive technology as an ally, invest in an orderly process of stages to achieve the adoption of technology, as well as in systems that allow the interpretation of data and accompany these processes with experts in technical advice,” he explained. .

The event was inaugurated last Monday night by the Vice Minister of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Andrés Arens, who highlighted that shrimp was the main non-oil export product in 2020, covering 26% of it, with $ 3,824 million sold in the Exterior. In addition, between January and August 2021, this product remained the most exported to markets such as the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, among others, representing revenues of $ 3,175 million.

Meanwhile, José Antonio Camposano, executive president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), organizer of the event, said that shrimp farming is one of the main economic activities that directly and indirectly supports more than 260,000 families. “We returned to Aquaexpo to feed our curiosity to find new ways to advance in this process of continuous improvement that has allowed our sector to face the natural difficulties that all entrepreneurship has,” said the manager.

In addition, during the inauguration, recognition was given to Alejandro Aguayo, founding president of the CNA, and Antonio Lince, shrimp producer, for their promotion of innovation in the sector through sustainable practices.

Meanwhile, the commercial exhibition also stands out at the Aquaexpo, the machinery attracted the curiosity of the attendees, such as a Rühle, a marinating machine (tumbling) shrimp.

Non-oil shipments grew 9% until August, but the logistics crisis worries the export sector

“This opens the fibers of the product because it has a vacuum system and also a double system that helps keep the product cold … in the process the shrimp loses weight, dehydrates and this helps to hydrate it again and gain a little. weight ”, said Carlos Molina, commercial technical assistant of the Aditmaq company, who indicated that this machinery is used by shrimp exporters, although it can be applied in other sectors such as meat.

The exposed equipment has the capacity to work 120 kilos and is priced at $ 28,000.

Another sector that attracted attention was logistics, through mobilization. Santiago Robayo, manager of the coastal region of Mareauto Avis, highlighted the launch of the renting of productive assets, a new product that was launched at Aquaexpo.

“It includes the rental modality and everything that is forklifts, lifting equipment, generator equipment, immersion pumps, including a topic of medical equipment that we are putting in the modality of renting”, Specified Robayo, who explained that the rental of assets and vehicles in the shrimp sector helps in financial efficiency to companies that do not have to make large investments to mobilize or establish automotive fleets or to buy some productive assets.

He stressed that one of the services of its form with the greatest demand in the shrimp sector has to do with telemetry, a technological platform installed in each of the vehicles that is replicated in an application in which precise information regarding the location is obtained, the route and the mileage, the maintenance delivered and received from the vehicle; and safety issues through the monitoring of the routes made by vehicles.

The fair will be open until this Thursday, October 28. (I)