Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Fish as Alternative to Coffee

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Mar 13 2004 (IPS) - The Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is promoting tilapia fish farming as a productive alternative for communities that have been hit hard by the coffee crisis, especially along the southern coast. “In Guatemala the conditions exist for raising tilapia, a fast-growing fish. It only requires that the fish farm is not above an altitude of 1,500 meters and that average temperatures are maintained at 26 to 28 degrees (Celsius),” deputy agriculture minister Ramiro Pérez told Tierramérica.

On Mar. 5, with technical support from the government of Taiwan, the ministry set up the Sabana Grande National Center for Aquiculture Production and Training, in the southern department of Escuintla.

The center will serve as a platform for expanding tilapia production, and will sell three varieties of this popular fish, brought from San Luis Potosí, Mexico