El Niño impacts on the catch and prices of crabs in Ecuador

The crabbers of the 6 de Julio enclosure, in Naranjal (Guayas), have a catch limit of 72 crabs per day, but at most they are catching 48 crustaceans. This is a decrease of just over 30% that they attribute to the rise in sea level due to the El Niño phenomenon. The climatic phenomenon related to the warming of the Pacific is already producing a rise in sea level of between 25 and 28 centimeters off the coast of Ecuador. And with the tides, that increase also impacts the mangroves from which the crab is extracted. At the Caraguay market dock, a traditional point of sale and distribution of the crustacean, south of Guayaquil, there was also a lower arrival of the product from the Gulf of Guayaquil. Prices have increased by up to 33%. The plates and bundles are being sold at a value similar to what they reach after the closures, when the product is scarce in the market and the desire of consumers is greater, after a month of sales ban. catch rate drops Geovanny López, a member of the ...