The Minister of Fisheries, Marcelo Crivelli, announced today in Cuiabá, plans to deploy tanks for raising fish in Lake Manso and Northallerton in an effort to boost production and income of small and large producers. Four of them, to be installed in Lago Manso, will be allocated to large producers, plus the other four would generate 8 million kg of fish and an income of R$ 50 million per year. Northallerton is already forecast to produce 1200-1500 tonnes, among 15 municipalities that will be added to the project.
The program provides technical assistance, construction of a feed plant, production of fingerlings of good species of commercial value (such as tilapia) and processing of fish to be produced in ponds or net cages. Altogether, the program should benefit thousands of people, but the minister predicts an increase of the entire production chain with the installation of new tanks.
Marcelo Crivelli believes the economy based on the production of fish is the last frontier to be conquered. Today, U$ 1 billion and 300 000 moves in a market in which Brazilians only consume 9 kg of fish per year. The minimum recommendation of the World Health Organization is a consumption of 13 kg of fish per year.
The governor Silval Barbosa was enthusiastic about the proposal to transform Mato Grosso in the largest fish producer. Today, the state leads in the production of soybeans, corn, cotton and meat. "It's a big deal," he said. He recalled that the implementation process of the aquaculture program in Mato Grosso began with a performance of Congressman Wellington Fagundes (PR-MT) from the Ministry of Fisheries. "It started back there."
He referred to the hearing held at the Ministry of Fisheries, a year ago, to deal with the installation of a refrigerator in Black Stone. At the hearing, the representative stressed the importance of the establishment of fish farms in Mato Grosso.
The parliamentarian, who attended the launch of the program in Cuiaba and Northallerton, believes that aquaculture has a social dimension, generate employment, and other economic, to generate income in a sustainable way and move the economy of several municipalities.
