Boxmeer, The Netherlands-based animal genetics company Hendrix Genetics has signed a strategic partnership with Peruvian fish roe importer Coraqua for the latter to grow Hendrix’s Troutlodge stocks from egg to mature broodstock in Chichillapi, in Peru’s Puno Region.
The first domestically grown eggs – with stocks to be cultivated from egg to mature broodstock – will be made available to Peruvian farmers by November 2024, Hendrix said in a release. Hendrix Genetics has responded to disruptions to international and intercontinental logistics with a strategy of speeding up domestic production in certain markets. It recently set up local grow-out operations for its Kona Bay shrimp brand in Ecuador, Indonesia, and India. The latest announcement involving Coraqua follows that strategy, but represents the first partnership of its kind for Troutlodge, the company’s general manager, Keith Drynan, said.
“In the last two years, we’ve seen Troutlodge eggs becoming even more popular in demand with the increased resistance to bacterial cold-water disease and with the increasing supply difficulties that have been seen from several producing countries,” Drynan said. “This next step in our long-lasting cooperation with Coraqua is a great step forward to increase the availability of our eggs to rainbow trout farmers worldwide, and shows our commitment to be at the forefront of a successful and thriving trout industry globally.”
The partnership is expected to benefit Troutlodge customers in both Peru and other markets; Currently, due to high demand Troutlodge is unable to meet demand and operates with a waiting list for new customers, Drynan said.
“With Troutlodge broodstock now being grown and spawned in our unique environment, our customers will have access to the high-health, high-quality trout eggs they know from Troutlodge, with the added benefit of already being acclimatized to the environmental conditions of Peruvian high Andes during their whole life-cycle,” Coraqua Commercial Manager Rosa Huasasquiche Perez said.
Coraqua is Peru’s leading importer of trout roe, bringing in more than 100 million eggs per year for distribution throughout Peru, in addition to importing fry and equipment for the aquaculture sector, it said.
In 2021, in partnership with Skretting and Ecuacultivos, Hendrix Genetics began constructing a shrimp genetics center to provide Ecuadorian producers with a dedicated genetic line of shrimp with increased resistance to local diseases. The 2019 purchase of its Macrobio hatchery took the three partners’ investment in the local industry close to USD 25 million (EUR 20.5 million).
Photo courtesy of Hendrix Genetics
