In his presentation before participants to the 2011 Economic Restoration Summit, Saipan Aquaculture Co. operations manager Rommel G. Catalma acknowledged that the local industry needs the government’s participation.
To stave off competition from other markets, Catalma said the emerging aquaculture industry needs the government as it competes with imported aquaculture products.
“Imported aquaculture products are much cheaper than local produce. Frozen shrimp right now is $4.95 a pound versus local shrimp that’s $8 a pound. Tilapia is $0.99 a pound while local produce sells at $2.50 a pound,” Catalma said.
To make his case, Catalma showed how New Caledonia managed to have a shrimp production that’s nearing 10 million pounds a year valued at $70 million, 75 percent of which is exported to Asia and elsewhere.
“There is a very strong government support in New Caledonia. They have agencies that train people,” he said.
He pointed out that New Caledonia imposed a total ban on imported frozen and fresh crustacean. “A frozen shrimp can still carry disease,” said Catalma of the reason for New Caledonia’s ban on imported fresh and frozen aquaculture products.
He said, “In all countries I have seen with a thriving aquaculture business, they have a very strong government involvement. The government really supports the industry.”
Catalma believed that the government can help promote the local aquaculture industry by restricting importation or at least implementing strict disease testing of imported seafood.
“If we can’t restrict importation of crustaceans, impose higher taxes on imported seafood to make local produce more competitive when it comes to price,” added Catalma.
The need for the government to intervene and impose tough regulations on imports stemmed also from controlling diseases that come with imported seafood.
Recently, a study by Dr. Hui Gong of the University of Guam revealed that the CNMI is free of diseases as compared with Asian countries that saw an outbreak of diseases impacting shrimp production.
Apart from the call for restrictions to imported seafood, Catalma also called tapping the military market.
He said Saipan Aquaculture Co. was certified in 2008 by the U.S. armed forces and was included on its list of recommended vendors for all its military installations worldwide.
He also mentioned about the government helping develop the fish and aquaculture development program and providing subsidy on shipping costs until the industry is self-supporting.
With government support, Catalma said the industry will have the necessary impetus for growth.
Saipan Aquaculture Co., owned by longtime businessman Anthony Pellegrino, is one of the more successful business ventures on island. It started producing tilapia and vegetables via hydrophonics on a 1.6-hectare farm in Chinatown in 2005. Two years later, it decided to venture in shrimp production, and is now an exporter of brood stocks.
It currently produces 5,000 pounds of shrimp per month — 50 percent goes to local households while the other 50 percent is supplied to restaurants and hotels.
Saipan SyAqua is one of the few farms outside Hawaii certified to supply brood stocks.
