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Brazil has five phsioclimatic regions, each with characteristics that
require specific aquaculture rearing technologies: North, Northeast, Central,
Southeast, and South. Aquaculture is growing in Brazil because of technological
developments in each geographical region. Much still has to be done to maximize
profitability, but developing technology has given farmers confidence to
become involved.
Although Brazil, with more than 8,000 km of coastline, has enormous potential
for marine and brackish water aquaculture, only 2,000 tonnes of penaeid
shrimp are being produced in the northeastern region and some 3,000 tonnes
of molluscs are produced in the littoral region of Santa Catarina State
annually. Brazilian fishery production produces about one million tonnes
annually, 80% of which originates from commercial and artisanal marine fisheries
in the South Atlantic Ocean. In recent years production has sharply decreased
due to the depletion of sardine stocks, probably as a consequence of overfishing.
Currently, the main dilema facing the development of Brazilian aquaculture
is the lack of an organized technology transfer system. |