USSEC recently conducted three aquaculture seminars in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.  Consultants Jairo Amezquita, Dr. Herbert Quintero and a representative from a major regional aquafeed producer facilitated the “International Aquaculture Seminars” in Guatemala City, Guatemala; Choluteca, Honduras; and Chinandega, Nicaragua.  These seminars were attended by an average of 70 people from the three countries’ shrimp industries.  During these workshops, Mr. Amezquita gave a lecture titled “Shrimp Production and USSEC’s Role in the Development of World Aquaculture.”  Dr. Quintero presented Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for shrimp production emphasizing biosecurity practices.  The aquafeed representative presented the meetings’ objectives and discussed the direction that his company pursued after USSEC’s workshop in Mexico about Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) in the shrimp industry.  The previous workshop suggested alternatives to mitigate the impact of this disease which has generated huge losses around the world, mainly in Asia and Mexico.
The team also visited two shrimp production farms in Honduras to provide assistance on several topics:  the current global situation of shrimp production with regards to EMS; opportunities and challenges; the current situation of the farm; and guidelines to prevent or mitigate the possible entrance of EMS.  The aquaculture industry in Central America consumes about 300,000 metric tons (MT) of feed per year, representing a consumption of 100,000 MT of U.S. soybean meal.  Therefore, it is important for USSEC to continue providing technical service to aquaculture farmers and aquaculture feed mills to improve practices, efficiency and production in order to benefit the aquaculture industry in this region and continue to increase the consumption of U.S. soybean meal.