Aquaculture health, nutrition, and genetics firm Benchmark announced that its subsidiary Spring Genetics has been awarded the first-ever tilapia genetics import license in Colombia.
The first shipment of genetic material to Acuacultivos el Guajaro - Spring Genetics’ distributor for the Caribbean Region - is slated for the end of September with Spring Tilapia fingerlings to be commercially available in Colombia in 2020. Spring Tilapia is the brand name of the Spring Genetics tilapia strain, having gone through 8 generations of selection at the Miami “Breeding Nucleus” for key traits such as fast growth, survivability and yield – as well as advanced genomic selection for resistance to Streptococcus iniae and S. agalactiae.
“Ongoing negotiations with other Colombian companies are being held to secure a wider national reach,” the company said in a release.
Spring Genetics said the approval was the result of a multilateral collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), Colombia’s aquaculture federation FEDEACUA, and Acuacultivos El Guajaro. The outcome was the creation and implementation of a new genetic material import protocol in Colombia.
Florida-based Spring Genetics’ breeding program is designed and supervised by its Norwegian sister company, Akvaforsk Genetics (AFGC), which specializes in aquaculture genetics and research. Benchmark purchased both Spring Genetics and AFGC in 2015, specifically to push into the tilapia market.
"This deal is an opportunity for Benchmark to further advance its position in the aquaculture genetics and breeding sector,” Benchmark’s founder and CEO Malcolm Pye said at the time. “The acquisitions bolster our recognized status in the salmon genetics space, and moves Benchmark into the rapidly growing tilapia market."
“The entrance of the company into the tilapia market is particularly encouraging, as it is one of the fastest growing sources of protein in the Latin American region,” he added.
In August, Benchmark announced that Pye would formally step down as CEO on 30 November, 2019, when he will become a non-executive director. An external search for his successor is underway.
The total tilapia production in Colombia is 70,000 metric tons, of which 60 percent is red tilapia and the remaining 40 percent Nile tilapia, according to information from FEDEACUA. Colombia is one of the main fresh tilapia fillet exporters to the U.S. and the third largest tilapia producer in Latin America, behind Brazil and Mexico.
Colombia’s export promotion agency, Procolombia, has identified aquaculture as a key development area for the country, particularly in the raising of tilapia and rainbow trout. The agency touts Colombia’s stable climate and multiple, diverse marine and freshwater ecosystems, which allow for year-round fish production in much of the country.
In 2018, Colombian exports of aquaculture and fishery products reached USD 115.8 million (EUR 105.5 million) increasing 23.5 percent from the previous year, Procolombia said. The main destinations were the U.S., France and Spain.
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