Shrimp farm opens new processing plant
It is Belize’s fastest growing major industry. And when figures for the year 2000 are tallied, the business of shrimp farming should take its place along with sugar, citrus, bananas and tourism at the commanding heights of the nation’s economy. News 5’s Jose Sanchez was on hand in the Stann Creek District for the dedication of a major new investment.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
A shrimp is an often-used metaphor for something small…however these tiny, and tasty little creatures are playing a big role in the Belizean economy. One sign of potential for growth in the aquaculture industry is Paradise Shrimp Farm’s new processing plant.
Gary Schulties, Gen. Manager, Paradise Shrimp Farm
“Paradise was purchased by its current owner in November 1997. At that time Mr. Cazi had a dream of having a shrimp farm of more than a thousand acres and his commitment, he’s been faithful to because in three years time it had one hundred and eighty acres and nine employees. Now we have seven hundred and fifty acres, we have one hundred and sixty employees, we have hatcheries, and we can produce our own seed, the larvae that goes into the pond. We have now a processing plant which is what we are celebrating today to complete the processing of the shrimp, package it and send it off to any export market in the world.”
In the past Paradise had to package its product elsewhere, significantly adding to the cost of production. However, now that they expect to harvest two million pounds of shrimp this year, and with projections of continued expansion in the future, it made sense for the company to open its own processing facility. According to processing room supervisor, Ethan Velasquez, their methods are very efficient.
Ethan Velasquez, Supervisor, Processing Room
“It’s being, inspected for foreign objects, other defects such as it being soft or broken. Besides that when it’s being selected, we select for heads on or for tails. There’s a higher price for heads on and that’s what Paradise is all about, trying to pack the majority, or most or all heads on.”
Daniel Silva, Min. of Agriculture and Fisheries
“The industry is growing very fast. Last year it was one of our star performers. Our exports grew by thirty-three percent, we produced four point two million dollars and this year we have five point two million approximately, the figures are just coming in. This new processing plant should create a lot more jobs in the Stann Creek Area and should also increase our foreign exchange significantly this year despite the destruction from Hurricane Keith.”
Gary Schulties
“Right now Belize has one of the best reputations in the entire world and we stamp Product of Belize on our box. Most of our customers say that’s what we want. Belize has a great reputation of being disease free, of having quality shrimp, so we want to take advantage of that.”
Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
The processing plant was built at a cost of three million dollars, bringing the total investment at Paradise to twelve million.
