Brazil: Aquaculture and Fisheries Secretary wants 400% increase in fish farming

The Secretary of Aquaculture and Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Jorge Seif Júnior, said in an interview to Poder360 that he expected 400% growth in fish farming in the country only with the use of hydroelectric ponds. Today, Brazilian production is 2 million tonnes of fish per year, 1.2 million tonnes from fishing and 800,000 tonnes from aquaculture. Seif wants 4 million tons of fish per year in the 73 hydroelectric lakes alone (like Itaipu, for example). Production in these locations today is close to zero. The secretary stated that the increase in aquaculture will be possible with the new system of requests and analysis of licenses for the use of waters under the domain of the Union. Brazil exported 46 thousand tons of fish in 2019 (most recent data), reaching US $ 305 million. It imported 333 thousand tons, at a cost of US $ 1.27 billion. It therefore ran a deficit of US $ 965 million. Seif's expectation is that the country will become a surplus with the increase of ...