Aqua Expo Guayaquil 2017: Ecuadors new law to help aquaculture sector gain funds from bank

Ecuador’s fisheries and aquaculture ministry is in the process of establishing a new legal framework for its aquaculture industry, which should make it possible for companies to “get credit” from banks using their lands and farming licenses as guarantee, the country’s deputy minister of aquaculture and fisheries, Javier Cardoso (see photo below), said at the inauguration evening of Aqua Expo 2017.

Changes to Ecuador’s aquaculture law, which dates back to 1974, will be part of a new fisheries and aquaculture law, according to Cardoso.

The new law also aims to increase efforts in the fight against illegal fishing; improve resources’ sustainability; promote renewable and clean energy instead of fossil fuels in aquaculture projects; incentivize artisanal fishing; and support processing and value added product output, Cardoso told Undercurrent News.

The new law is under construction,” Cardoso told Undercurrent, adding it was expected to be approved by the congress, once it had been defined, at some point next year.

The industry “needs to invest in technical production”, according to an industry source. “Growth in surface” is limited, the source said, but the industry can invest in new technologies, programs of genetic improvement, cutting costs to make production more efficient, replace fossil fuels. 

Representatives of the tuna industry, shrimp farming sector, and other fishing industry leaders have been involved by the ministry of fisheries and aquaculture, which has “developed some round tables to discuss criteria for the new law proposal across the country”.

The ministry is working to reach a consensus with the main actors and create a law that benefits all, Cardoso said.