2024-08-25 23:47:31
193 fish farmers from Azuay, Cañar and Tungurahua, affected by natural disasters in recent weeks, benefited from the delivery of 200,000 trout fingerlings at the Arco Iris Fish Farming Station (EPAI), near the city of Cuenca.
The Vice Minister of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Rafaela Hurtado, made this donation effective before touring the EPAI facilities, where she was able to learn about the trout reproduction process and the careful monitoring carried out to achieve quality production.
“Thanks to the National Government’s commitment to productive development, the Undersecretariat of Aquaculture provides fingerlings free of charge to fish farmers or fish farming organizations as an incentive for the implementation of their aquaculture crops, so that they can later sell trout, cachama and tilapia fingerlings at a low cost. This supply of trout fingerlings is directed to sectors that have experienced natural disasters and great losses that have significantly reduced their income,” said Vice Minister Hurtado.
The same station was affected by the floods that occurred in early May, which halted activities to physically verify biological assets and check the facilities for approximately 4 weeks. As a result, trout breeders were killed and 30,000 fry were lost.
Considering what happened, the station remained operational and is currently working with contingency plans to continue providing services to the community in general.
Representing the benefited fish farmers, Diego Santamaría thanked the MPCEIP for this type of action that promotes production in the sector. “We know that this is not limited to these deliveries of fingerlings. They also provide us with comprehensive support to be able to move our businesses forward. The people of our towns are totally grateful for this boost we received,” he said.
The Undersecretariat of Aquaculture seeks excellence in the beneficiaries of these grants through training, technical assistance and support to the artisanal fish farming and mariculture sectors. To this end, in addition to the EPAI, there are 3 more facilities strategically located throughout the country: Aquaculture Research Center – CENIAC (Papallacta, Napo province); CACHARÍ Fish Farming Station (Babahoyo, Los Ríos province); and the Cachama Reproduction Center – CEREC (Tena, Napo province).
The demand for fingerling production has been successfully met, benefiting 1,072 fish farmers nationwide. So far in 2024, a total of 422 applications have been received for training, technical assistance and supplies of trout and tilapia fingerlings, obtaining a total of 2,406 fish farming beneficiaries. The Undersecretariat of Aquaculture delivers fingerlings free of charge to fish farmers and fish farming organizations with limited resources or those starting the activity, as an incentive mechanism, allowing them to cover their basic needs through family consumption and local marketing of surpluses.