Shrimp Farming in Mexico

Giovanni Fiore Amaral1

Abstract

The Mexican shrimp farming industry began in the 1970s in the northwest states (Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit) using rustic ponds with low densities.

Current estimates indicate that the surface area of shrimp ponds in Mexico is around 70,000 hectares, however the technology has not changed considerably; modernization and regulation have been limited. Nevertheless, shrimp farming represents one of the most profitable aquaculture sectors in Mexico. Through the General Fishing and Aquaculture Law, the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA) is responsible for the efficient regulation of aquaculture in water bodies of federal jurisdiction. On the other hand, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is Mexico’s environment ministry. One of SEMARNAT’s core functions is to regulate the development of inland aquaculture (private property and federal marine-inland zone) by requesting environmental impact assessments for screening. Clearly, the development and regulation of shrimp farming has to be coordinated between these federal offices with their respective laws.

The Federal Government of México, through CONAPESCA, recognizes the importance and need for the aquaculture and fisheries sector to sustainably grow in order to meet rising food demands. To this end, and in recent years, CONAPESCA has allocated public resources to improve the fisheries and aquaculture sector through specific strategies; one of these strategies is “The National Program for Aquaculture Management” which was created to (i) enable an orderly and competitive aquaculture sector that is sustainable, and (ii) regulate and administrate the sector, using processes and tools such as the delimitation of aquaculture zones. Shrimp farming in Nayarit State is used as one example to illustrate how aquaculture is managed through Aquaculture Production Units (UPAs) or aquaculture zones.
This case study describes the methodology that is used in Mexico to demarcate and manage aquaculture zones based on the scoping of the aquaculture activity and the zone, carried by the Aquaculture Health Committee of Nayarit State with federal funds of CONAPESCA.
Zoning results are presented in a spatial database (available on the Internet) to facilitate the regularization of UPAs through legal mechanisms between CONAPESCA and SEMARNAT.

1 The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO or the World Bank Group.

Fiore-Amaral, G. 2017. Shrimp Farming in Mexico. In J. Aguilar-Manjarrez, D. Soto & R. Brummett. Aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management under the ecosystem approach to aquaculture. Full document, pp. 253–270. Report ACS113536. Rome, FAO, and World Bank Group, Washington, DC. 395 pp.