Sri Lanka
is a relative new comer in the international trade of ornamental
fish species, with an increasing share of the international market.
Sri Lanka's production model for guppies is very interesting.
New
Horizons In Central America
In El
Salvador, for example, the closest thing to local production
of ornamental species in the late 1960's was an operation
run by a woman, who had converted her yard into a low intensity
production facility, and her livingroom into a retail outlet.
She managed to produce a good assortment of livebearer species,
and a fe egglayers species, but no fancy guppies. I remember
being 11 years old in El Salvador, when I bought my first
pair of fancy guppies from another local fish store for 16
Colones (equivalent to about US$6.4 at the time). It was a
pair of HB red triangle tail; beautiful fish, as I remember.
It is impossible for me to know the origin of those fish,
but I suspect they came from Singapore via Miami, Florida.
USA.
Looking
back at that time, I can help but to see the irony of it all.
Here you have a country with ideal climate, a large available
labor force and the right resources, and hobbyist like myself
had to purchase guppies imported from Asia, via the United
States. Talk about backwardness. The more I think about it,
the more I want to do something about that, even today.
| Between
1991(end of the civil war) and 1993, when I was back
in El Salvador - turned out to be temporary residency-
I visited what was perhaps the only ornamental
fish farm in the country a couple of times. They
were mainly focused on production of goldfish varieties.
The owner was a little secretive and I could not peak
around the cement tanks to see what else he was growing
besides goldfish, but a quick and dirty survey of local
pet shops in San Salvador - the capital- led me to believe
that the bulk of what was sold in fish stores was imported
from the USA (unknown origin).
|
|
The
few trained fishery biologist professionals in the country
know more about introduced species than about our own
native aquatic fauna. It is pathetic! Tilapia nilotica
is stocked in all bodies of water in the name of
"ecological restoration". What a concept!
|
El Salvador
has many native fish species suitable for the ornamental fish
industry, but little-to-nothing is know about their biology,
status, abundance trends and distribution. Any knowledge gained
in the pursuit of a lucrative operation involving the production
or collection of native species for export, could also prove
valuable to the local governmental institutions or NGOs charged
with environmental monitoring and restoration. But convincing
the current ARENA government to think outside of the box is
next to impossible, without compromising the integrity of
the "right" kind of program. A significant portion
of the profit generated by such export crops must stay in
the country, in whatever form. This has to be an endogenous
program, and it has to contribute to the well being of the
people and the environment. It is called "socially responsible
investment".
Fortunately,
the risk for a start up for-profit operation of such nature
is very low compared with the potential for economic gain.
Therefore finding potential socially responsible investors
may not prove that difficult once the framework begins to
be implemented on the ground. As for transport to the International
market, the civil war in El Salvador resulted in the migration
of well over two million of our citizens to the USA, Canada,
Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. Some of us acquired very
specialized education and degrees while in the USA or elsewhere.
Los Angeles, California is the second largest "Salvadoran"
city.
| In
2004 there were at least five airline carries with direct
flight to most major ports in the USA certified by the
US Fish and Wildlife Service as port of entry for livestock,
including ornamental fish (see maps).
A flight between Comalapa Airport (El Salvador) and Miami
International Airport is 2 hr and 2 min, and to New York,
Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. about 5 hours (see map).
So you could literally pack fish in the morning and have
it in the transshipper tanks in the afternoon. Think of
what that could do to reduce shipment cost and losses
do to shipping-associated (immediate and delayed) mortality. |
|
Finding
outlet for the product would not be hard if he product is
of he right quality. The challenge is a production challenge,
not a transportation challenge. It is also not a challenge
of entering the export market. In the livestock business,
the product speaks for itself. Having good product at hand
is much more than half of the battle.
That is
where my colleagues and I come in. Our initial objectives
are three: 1- production and export of a complete assortment
of livebearer species and angelfish; 2- Expand the assortment
of cultured species to meet the need of the available market;
and 3- Study a minimum of 12 local species with potential
for aquaculture (priority given to those deemed threatened
or endangered).
| We
are forming a consortium
to conduct a feasibility study and to develop a framework
for a national program, in many ways similar to the one
in Sri Lanka. Our initial model will be a centralized
model, where all the product is funneled through a central
private location. Technical and logistic assistance, and
quality assurance would also be centralized. We hope to
have our first pilot project by the end of 2009, get ahead
of any potential competitor who may come in later. We
want to be the dominant force in the event that such an
aquaculture program in El Salvador takes hold. |
|
If you
are interested in more details, please contact me at pipil@comcast.net
