A Study on Taiwan Tilapia Industry: Its Implications on Honduras

Commercial aquaculture supplies aquatic products for consumption, generates business profits, creates jobs, pays labor incomes, including wages and salaries, and provides tax revenues. It also contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP). Business profits from commercial aquaculture provide funds for investments and hence stimulate economic growth. So do savings from commercial aquaculture employees. In this century one of the most important aquaculture products is Tilapia. Statistics from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) shows that for year 2009 the tendency of Honduras Tilapia Exports is in first place Fresh Fillet. In special field as aquaculture, Taiwan’s expertise is crucial. Aquaculture has a history of over three hundred years in Taiwan and plays a very important role in Taiwan''s fishery industry. Taiwan''s aquaculture has developed rapidly due to the combined efforts of aqua-farmers, investors, and experts from academia and research institutes. Taiwan has gained worldwide reputation in aquaculture technologies. Empirical studies show that through decades of hard work and good economic management, Taiwan has transformed itself from an underdeveloped, agricultural island to an economic power that is a leading producer of high-technology goods. In the 1960s, foreign investment in Taiwan helped introduce modern, labor-intensive technology, and Taiwan became a major exporter of labor-intensive products. In Central America, especially in Honduras the development of tilapia culture was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through social programs that had as main objective to improve access to animal protein for the poor population. Now a day, support is obtained from Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) for Tilapia culture in Honduras. Fish production is viewed as a way to advance development through food security and income generation. Although many international enterprises are opening Tilapia farms in Honduras, their production is mainly for export, so small fishermen are not benefiting from that. Besides, the public investment in this sector is not enough to assure that local small fishermen will benefit from the tilapia industry. It was until the year 2008 that the Honduras government through DIGEPESCA (Honduras National Fishery Organization) created the Fisheries and Aquaculture Chain. This made possible to organize all the authors in the aquaculture chain, in order to identify problems and solutions for them. It is suggested with this study that it is feasible for Honduras to build up a strong Tilapia Industry with reference to Taiwan Tilapia Industry in order to assure Food Security to Hondurans and guarantee a better local and international trade for Honduras Tilapia. Moreover, if ways that have led Taiwan Tilapia to the success are adopted in Honduras it could be shown that diversification of Honduras Tilapia Industry assures a more strong competition in the local and international market. Taiwan and Honduras have similar environment characteristics important for Tilapia culture. Taking into account that both countries have different economic status and culture, this study can be used by policy makers and Honduras government to become aware of the need for increasing the support in this industry, using Taiwan expertise on aquaculture as a bench mark