Considering the environmental and technical drawbacks that exist in Aruba, aquaculture seems an unlikely productive option. Nevertheless its development should not be excluded. Intensive fish rearing could be a feasible and profitable activity if properly planned and managed. To achieve this the Government, which has frequently expressed its willingness to promote this sector, should demonstrate its productive potential in order to attract private capital investments.
The following general conclusions and recommendations, which summarize the mission findings, underline the principal factors which should be taken into consideration:
Fish import reduction and high seafood demand on the local market are the most important justifications for aquaculture development in Aruba. However, the local environmental conditions greatly limit aquaculture feasibility. Shortage of appropriate sites, the limited fresh water available, the aggressive environment along the East coast and the intense tourism, urbanization and industrial development on the West coast (together with pollution risks) area among the most serious limiting factors.
Environmental and socio-economic conditions address the choice towards an industrial intensive rearing model, which would enable the achievement of high production with a relativly reduced land use. Nevertheless the high capital investment which characterizes this model, requires an accurate forecast of the technical and financial constraints and risks involved.
The lack of technical experience in aquaculture on the island, necessitate the use of foreign know-how. Taking this into consideration, two main recommendations should be followed:
since the objective is to reduce import costs, productive projects principally oriented towards the product sale on the local market should be favoured.
increased experience in aquaculture should be urgently acquired by DAHF staff in order to advise future Aruban investors and properly select foreign investors proposals.
Financial constraints are mainly represented by the high building costs (the land at disposal is formed in general by sand or coral rocks; along the eastern coast special construction materials have to be used), cost of imports (special equipment, fish food, some chemicals and veterinary products), and by the high cost of labour and energy. Investors will face high capital as well as operating costs to which that of starting a new activity should be added at the beginning. Aquaculture set up in Aruba must be fostered by public incentives. It is advisable that the Government considers, at the early sector development stage, at least the possibility of:
awarding tax exemption to imports necessary to aquaculture (equipment, fish food, chemicals, etc.).
granting low interest loans to aquaculture investors,
providing free technical assistance to producers,
supporting the sale of the product through the promotion of advertising campaigns
The seafood product market in Aruba is still largely unknown, as demonstrated by ARU/90/002 results. Lack of reliable statistics prevents the formulation of precise marketing forecasts. In addition, the relatively “low cost” of the fresh fish will economically hamper future aquaculture producers. But a high demand exists, both from residents and tourists, and the wish for fresh fish sold under good hygienic conditions is increasing (A viat, 1993). The future acceptance of aquaculture products on the local market must be accurately evaluated in advance. This is an essential pre-requisite for any future investment. The Government again should intervene to furnish potential investors with a reliable estimate of the likely future marketing performance of their product. Market tests are recommended to ascertain:
the market acceptability of the species selected for aquaculture farming on the island (and, furthermore the general local acceptability of “farmed fish”),
the real value of this product on the market, through the analysis of its sale as a fresh or processed product and the definition of the best market strategy. The definition of the value of the product will permit a precise financial analysis of the activity and will enable the correct calculation of the size of the farm and of the investment required,
the feasibility of establishing a high quality trade-mark for Aruban aquaculture produce to enhance its competitiveness.
Aquaculture is a still an unexplored sector in Aruba and this increases the risks of launching this new activity. A pilot project is therefore justified to provide the necessary basic information. In the project presented in appendix 8, red Tilapia has been selected as the best species to begin with given its adaptability to the rearing conditions suitable for the island. The choice of using the existing facilities in Bonaire (ex-Marcultura Station) to realize this project is due to the necessity of reducing the cost of the pilot activity and of accelerating the technical training of DAHF staff. The expected results will be the identification of the best technical and financial aquaculture models suitable for Aruba, their proved feasibility and the ascertained market acceptability of the reared product. All this will permit the evaluation of the need for and advisability of building a new governmental or private aquaculture station in Aruba.
At the same time, an accurate evaluation of the aquaculture experiences in Bonaire from 1989 to 1994 is recommended to identify the most productive areas in order to formulate a future applied research programme. This programme, with a strictly defined time and funds requirement, will suggest the future approach towards diversifying aquaculture in Aruba. Queen conch and fresh water cichlids are probably the most interesting subjects at present, together with shrimp semi-intensive rearing in ponds should the new aquaculture station be sited in Rincon.
Net cages marine aquaculture could represent an important possibility for Aruban aquaculture development in the future, but studies on local environmental characteristics (particularly sea currents intensity and direction) must be carried out. The option of marine cages is being investigated by various Caribbean countries at present and the participation in a regional co-operative programme is recommended for Aruba. A Netherlands Antilles research programme on marine net cages aquaculture should be promoted by the ABC islands aiming at a TCDC collaboration with other countries with a better experience in aquaculture. Co-operation with FAO is recommended in the formulation (and future execution) of this programme as well as in the identification of possible donors.
