For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, AquaExpo – an annual event that hosts discussions on Ecuadorian shrimp production – hosted a sustainability forum, in which experts at the event’s 2024 edition examined how the industry has developed – and how it can move toward more responsible, sustainable, and transparent practices to drive better aquaculture performance.
“Ecuadorian producers have already proven that it is possible to produce shrimp of the highest quality in a way that is safe for both people and the environment. This journey, which we call Race to the Top, has been shaped by commitment, discipline, and strategy, and this is the message we want to convey to stakeholders in our industry and to those from other sectors,” Sustainable Shrimp Partnership Director Pamela Nath said during the opening speech of the new forum. “In this race, we can all cross the finish line together. This is a race for sustainability, where business success can positively impact the future of our planet.”
The newly founded forum featured 15 panels, with over 35 national and international industry experts.
During a panel titled “Governance: Leading the pack. Cultivating the future of the industry; elevating standards in aquaculture,” Sandro Coglitore, the CEO of one of Ecuador’s largest shrimp producers Omarsa, said that the Ecuadorian shrimp-farming industry first began to heavily prioritize sustainability after white spot syndrome hit the country’s shrimp farms in 1999 and rocked the sector through 2002.
“Before 2002, the focus was on density of shrimp in the ponds and antibiotics use. After the disease and the sector recovery, the shrimp industry’s focus is now on sales prices, nutritionally balanced shrimp feed, and the price of credit,” he said.
Alex Olsen, the CEO of shrimp-farming firm Grupo Lanec, agreed that the lessons learned from the white spot crisis helped to strengthen the industry.
“Times of crisis make you plan better for the future; it’s the best teacher. Ecuador’s aquaculture sector has a ‘shrimp culture’ as part of its DNA, where the industry never rests, with trial and error in advancing sustainability,” he said. “This is a race to survive; we are in a very competitive industry. Sustainability is the only way. Sooner or later, there will be another crisis.”
During the panel “Nurturing a culture of success,” higher-ups further up the supply chain in the feed industry reflected on taking those lessons learned and integrating responsible, transparent, and collaborative policies to ensure the continued sustainability Olsen and Coglitore called for.
Henrik Aarestrup, the vice president of shrimp and hatcheries within BioMar’s LATAM division, said that sustainability should be an issue that all companies in the aquaculture sector can rally behind.
“I work with suppliers who have had to go out of business because they can’t produce anymore. We can’t say what the price of soy will be next year because of global warming. There’s been an extended drought in Ecuador with cuts in the electric supply, fires in the Brazilian Amazon, even flooding in my hometown in Denmark,” he said. “We have to collaborate as an industry; sustainability is not competing.”
Aarestrup told SeafoodSource that in Ecuador, BioMar aims to achieve such sustainability standards by sourcing the raw materials for its feed from local, certified sources.
Skretting Global Sustainability Manager Jorge Diaz added during the panel that Skretting will soon be producing feed for salmon and shrimp without marine ingredients, telling SeafoodSource that the idea is to lessen pressure on ocean resources.
During another of the 15 panels titled “The race for a conversion-free industry: Strengthening commitment to ecosystems,” Danny Miller, the sustainability and ESG lead specialist for aquaculture at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), emphasized that although ensuring sustainability within the supply chain was important, it was also essential for shrimp farms to coexist with the natural habitats surrounding them, especially when it comes to mangrove forests.
Traditionally, mangroves have been removed to make way for shrimp farms, and growing worldwide demand for shrimp and the increased aquaculture activity in response have put pressure on coastal habitats and wetland areas.
“Ecosystem health is the foundation for any shrimp farmer. We cannot continue to eliminate mangroves to expand aquaculture,” he said.
Miller and Ecuador National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA) Executive President José Antonio Camposano applauded the 2022 agreement signed between their two institutions seeking to halt the conversion of natural habitats to accommodate shrimp farming in the country.
Under the agreement – the world’s first national commitment for conversion-free aquaculture – the involved parties use geospatial data to analyze and classify land cover in coastal regions where shrimp farming is most common. CNA uses this data to set a baseline based on scientific evidence, repeating the analysis yearly with the goal of reducing and ultimately ending all land conversion for shrimp farming in the country.
Though the industry is making progress, other panels focused on the work that still needs to be done.
During the panel “Game changers: Collaboration among companies, banks, and media to foster sustainable growth in aquaculture,” Patricio Salazar – the president and founder of GPS Group, which offers turnkey solutions for energy and automation projects in shrimp farms – said that 90 percent of Ecuador’s shrimp farms continue to use diesel to pump aerators.
Moving away from diesel would increase operational efficiency, making companies more competitive and sustainable, he said while adding the caveat that external financing is essential for a push toward electric-powered operations.
To that end, Soledad Jirón, an investment officer at Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, said that her organization has invested USD 400 million (EUR 382 million) in Ecuador.
The bank looks to finance green projects in the energy sector, providing the finance directly to leading sector companies, aiming to guarantee knowledge transfer to the rest of the industry. In evaluating project finance, FMO looks at the triple bottom line: a sustainable environmental, social, and financial impact.
“Sustainability can be great business,” she said. “It’s a fact that Ecuador is the number one shrimp producer in the world, so all eyes from many sectors – banking technology, retail, etc. – are on the country.”
