July 25, 2012

 

Mozambique shrimp exports to EU unaffected by financial crisis

 

 

The present financial crisis in the EU has not affected shrimp sales from Mozambique, according to the country's officials.

 

The European bloc and South Africa are the main markets of shrimps from Mozambique.

 

According to the Deputy Minister of Fisheries of Mozambique, Gabriel Muthisse, the Euro zone crisis does not affect the fishing industry or in particular the shrimp sector, which is one of the largest sources of foreign currency, AIM reported.

 

"The amount of Mozambican shrimp entering the world market is marginal," the official explained.

 

The international market moves astronomical volumes of this crustacean and Mozambique does not have a dominant weight in the amounts circulating in the world.

 

Therefore, the financial crisis "cannot affect them in the same way as it affects large shrimp producers in the world," the deputy minister added.

 

According to Muthisse, Mozambique will be able to get about US$68 million for fish exports, including shrimp, lobster, crab and several species of shellfish.

 

In 2010, the country exported fishery resources for US$59 million and in 2011 exports were worth US$78 million. Meanwhile, in the first half of 2012, the industry exported products for nearly US$21 million.

 

"These are preliminary values, of which US$11 million correspond to shrimp exports," he highlighted.

 

As to volumes, in 2010 Mozambique exported 12,000 tonnes of fishery products, of which 5,083 tonnes were shrimp. Whereas in 2011 about 13,000 tonnes of fishery resources were sent abroad, of which 4,386 tonnes were shrimps.

 

This year, it is expected to export 17,000 tonnes of fishery products, and the goal is to export 5,150 tonnes of shrimp, Muthisse said.

 

The slight drop in shrimp production recorded in the first half of 2012 is due to the closure period established during the initial months and to the implementation of new management measures, such as reduced quotas and the number of vessels with permits.

"In 2011 and 2012, management actions taken to allow the recovery of the shrimp were stricter," the deputy minister noted.

 

On the other hand, the "good health" of the shrimp from Mozambique was emphasised.

 

In this regard, he stressed that the white spot syndrome affects specimens everywhere and Mozambique was the third from the bottom of the list of countries to be affected. The penultimate was Madagascar, and only Australia has not recorded the outbreak of a disease, he added.

 

Finally, the deputy minister said the company, Aquapesca, "decided to cease production this year due to cold weather, which favours the outbreak of the white spot."