Colombia, country of fishermen and aquaculturists

With the aim of improving the living conditions of this important sector of the rural population, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA), and the National Authority of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Aunap) carried out the national-level zoning of artisanal marine shrimp fishing and Magdalena bocachico at a scale of 1:100,000.

 

"With these zoning plans, we identify which regions of Colombia have the greatest potential for fishing and aquaculture, strengthen planning exercises, and provide tools to guide investments from both the public and private sectors around these value chains. The zoning plans are a fundamental instrument that municipalities and departments can use for the formulation of local development plans; moreover, they allow fishermen and aquaculturists to identify where it is best to carry out their activity," explained Claudia Liliana Cortés, general director of UPRA.

 

The zoning map of the potential for artisanal marine shrimp fishing shows that Colombia has 52,902 km2 suitable for the development of this activity, distributed along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The departments with the best suitability are La Guajira, Bolívar, Magdalena, Sucre, Chocó, Valle del Cauca, and Nariño.

 

The Caribbean region presents an area suitable for the development of the activity of 37,355 km2, while the Pacific region registers 15,547 km2, which in percentage terms represents 70.6% and 29.4%, respectively.

 

The Colombian market is supplied with shrimp mainly from the Pacific, where most artisanal fishing occurs. This productive sector constitutes the basis of food security for nearly 150,000 families of artisanal fishermen, generating more than 10,000 direct jobs and 290,000 indirect jobs.

 

Karen Elena Mejía Piñerez, director of Aunap, stated: "Fishermen have management techniques and fishing methods such that, by having proper zoning, they will be able to apply them while respecting conservation zones, closed seasons, and minimum catch sizes; all of which will be reflected in a sustainable productive activity over time, a manifestation of that great productivity at the country level, creating a specific dynamism in the country's economy."

 

Regarding artisanal continental fishing of bocachico in Colombia, this takes place in the Magdalena River basin. The zoning of the potential for artisanal fishing of Magdalena River bocachico identified 3,135,646 hectares suitable for this productive activity, equivalent to 58.7% of the study area.

 

The departments with the highest area in high suitability are Bolívar (85,679 ha), Córdoba (80,587 ha), Antioquia (65,041 ha), Magdalena (50,369 ha), and Santander (37,756 ha).

 

"The value chain for our field producers, always led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, begins with prioritizing productive alternatives; based on these, exercises are carried out to identify, in each case, the areas with the best conditions for productive development, through 'productive suitability zoning'; the tools resulting from these exercises guide the different investments of the public and private sectors to improve production and competitiveness, in general, of the agricultural sector. Subsequently, Productive Planning Plans (POP) are formulated, which are participatory strategic planning processes to achieve the scenario that the productive chain bets on over a period of 20 years," explained Alexander Rodríguez Romero, technical director of Efficient Soil Use and Land Adaptation of UPRA.

1. Magdalena Bocachico Fishing​ 

https://upra.gov.co/es-co/Publicaciones/Pesca_Bocachico.pdf
 

2. Artisanal Marine Shrimp Fishing​​ 

https://upra.gov.co/es-co/Publicaciones/20240320_Zonif_Pesca_camaron.pdf

 

Our country is ranked as one of the countries with the highest water supply in the world; we are a country of fishermen: Colombia, an agri-food powerhouse!​