Sector grew 4.5% in 2018 and the expectation for 2019 is to accelerate the pace and reach a 10% expansion in general and 15% in the most cultivated species in Brazil

Pulled by tilapia, Brazilian fish farming produced 4.5% more in 2018 compared to 2017. The volume was 722,560 tons. The revenue of the sector grew in the same proportion and reached R $ 5.067 billion. Since 2014, when 578.8 million tons were produced, the production chain accumulated an expansion of 24.83%.
The figures are from the Brazilian Fisheries Association (PeixeBR). Last Friday (15/2), the entity launched, at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), the Brazilian Pisciculture Yearbook 2019, based on data from last year, in an event with participation of representatives of the production chain, research institutions and the National Secretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Jorge Seif Júnior.
The report shows that production expanded in the South (+ 11.3%), which maintained the leadership in the national ranking, Southeast (+ 7.6%) and Northeast (+ 20.6%) in 2018. In the North and Center-west, there was a retraction of 7% and of 7.8%, respectively.
"It was a good result for a year with an economy full of uncertainties, political and economic problems, truck drivers strike," said PeixeBR executive president Francisco Medeiros.
Only from tilapia, Brazil produced 11.9% more in 2018, 400.280 thousand tons. Paraná, leader of the national ranking of the species, placed 123 thousand tons in the market. Second in the ranking, São Paulo accounted for 69,500 thousand. Santa Catarina, the third, 33,800 tons.
"The growth in tilapia is significant and I believe it will be even bigger in the coming years. We see a continuation of the trend of previous years in this market," said Medeiros.
Brazil is the fourth largest producer of tilapia in the world, behind China, Egypt and Indonesia. If the result in the segment is celebrated by fish farmers, the situation is different in the so-called native fish, in which production fell 4.7%. They were 302.235 thousand tons in 2017 and 287.910 thousand in 2018.
Among the causes cited for the fall in production are climatic, health and market problems in important producing regions. With the negative performance, the share of the segment led by tambaqui - fell from 43.7% in the previous year to 39.84% last year.

Accelerating growth

For this year, PeixeBr expects to grow at a faster pace than in 2018, and may reach 10% overall. Only in tilapia, the expansion should be 15%. The entity also believes in the recovery of the native fish market, whose production is led by Rondônia, Roraima and Pará.
"We hope to break the double-digit barrier in 2019. There has been an improvement in distribution and the entry of cooperatives and other protein industries into the market, which has brought a sales pressure. We are also strengthening our actions in the foreign market," explained Medeiros.
He said he believes that, by 2022, the industry is registering growth rates around 20% per year. He explained that the participation of fish in consumption is about 3.7 kilograms per inhabitant per year. To reach the expected level of expansion for three years from now, it would be enough to add 300 grams per year to the plate.
"We work for a growth of between 20% and 25% a year in the coming years, which is what the entire industry can absorb," he said.

Source: Globo Rural
Image: Medium