How China overtook Brazil and became a major producer of Amazonian fish

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A quick search on the Chinese online trading site AliBaba turns up some deals on “red pacu”, a gray fish with a red belly, retailing for US$0.80 to US$1.23 (R$4.35 to US$6.68 ) the kilo.

The so-called “red pacu” is nothing more than the pirapitinga, a typical fish from the Amazon region and the Araguaia-Tocantins river basin.

Official data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reveal that China is now the largest source of this fish in the world.

In 2020, 59.4 thousand tons of pirapitinga were produced in the Asian country. Next, Colombia (33 thousand tons), Vietnam (23 thousand), Peru (2.1 thousand) and Brazil (1.8 thousand) – it is worth noting that this fish is not very popular among the inhabitants of the Brazilian Amazon region, who prefer other local options, such as tambaqui, matrinxã and jaraqui, which we will talk about later.

In addition to producing fish for human consumption, China and other Asian nations have become a reference in the creation of ornamental Amazonian fish. Today, there are variations of a species called discus that are only found on this continent, according to researchers interviewed by BBC News Brasil.

But how did these fish, native to the Amazon and surrounding areas, end up on the other side of the world? Behind this true saga, there are legends, stories of cooperation and heavy investment in cutting-edge science.

From the Amazon to Asia

Legend has it that, before Rio-92, the historic climate conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng would have traveled to Manaus, where he met with the then governor of the State of Amazonas, Gilberto Mestrinho (MDB ).

During the meeting, the emissary from China received live tambaqui couples as a gift, which were taken back to the Asian country — and would have given rise to interest in Amazonian aquatic species there.

The fact is that there is little evidence or official records of this meeting between Chinese and Amazonian emissaries, and the main names supposedly involved in the episode (Li Peng and Gilberto Mestrinho) have already died.

BBC News Brasil contacted the Government of the State of Amazonas and the Chinese Embassy in the country to confirm or dismiss the 1992 episode, but no responses were sent until the publication of this report.

Fish farming specialists consider it much more likely that this introduction of Amazonian species to other countries happened gradually and through several different sources.

Francisco Medeiros, president of the Brazilian Fish Farming Association (Peixe BR), recalls an agreement signed in the 1980s between Brazil and China.

“There was an exchange, in which our country received carp and technologies for the production of these fish and, in exchange, offered material on some native species”, he says. “And each party took advantage of the information the way it wanted.”

An article published in 2018 highlights that tambaqui and hybrid species have already been observed in several countries where they are not native, such as the United States, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

Also according to the authors, this introduction happened accidentally or deliberately, with the objective of starting creations of these fish in other places.

Another possible source of spreading is aquarism, the practice of keeping aquatic species in tanks for decoration and enjoyment.

A 2011 study carried out at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, tried to unravel how two pirapitingas ended up in rivers in Central Europe.

The main hypothesis raised is that aquarists for some reason threw these beings into local water reservoirs, which met the basic conditions for them to survive and reproduce.

Let it be clear: this exchange of species between countries was much less regulated three or four decades ago. It is only more recently that strict laws have emerged that prevent or hinder the entry and exit of plants, animals, fungi and other living beings across borders.

“Just remember that soy, one of Brazil’s main export products in recent decades, originated in China”, illustrates Medeiros.

“That is, we are talking about a legal process. The difference, in the case of fish, is that China decided to transform them into a commercial product and earn money with it.”

More beauty in aquariums

In addition to species raised for consumption (such as tambaqui and pirapitinga), what happened to ornamental Amazonian fish is also noteworthy.

“The discus, native to the Amazon, is sold abroad with new colors and characteristics that do not exist in Brazil itself”, points out Giovanni Vitti Moro, a researcher at Embrapa Pesca e Aquicultura.

These new strains of the species were developed from crossings or by selecting desired characteristics through genetic manipulation and are appreciated by aquarists all over the world.

“Today, we have to import these different matrices of sugarcane from China, India and Thailand”, adds Moro.

Biologist Adalberto Luis Val, from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, points out that Brazil is also lagging behind in the fishkeeping market.

This is because local producers still depend on extractivism, which is based on collecting these fish directly from nature, instead of raising and reproducing them in tanks.

“We need to develop technologies for the production of these animals in captivity. China already does this, and the aquarium market has signaled that, between 2025 and 2030, it will gradually reduce the import of ornamental fish from extractivism”, says the researcher and teacher.

“That’s because, out of every ten fish that are collected from the natural environment for export, nine die on the way.”

What do the numbers say

There is no doubt that China is by far the global leader in the seafood market. According to FAO records, the Asian country produced 83.9 million metric tons of fish from capture and aquaculture in 2020 alone.

To give you an idea, second place is Indonesia, with 21.8 million, a value almost four times smaller. Following, appear India (14 million), Vietnam (8 million) and Peru (5.8 million).

Within this scenario, Amazonian fish still represent a very small, almost insignificant, slice of the Chinese fish farming market.

“There, pirapinga caters to some specific niches. It is sold small, large, whole, in filet… Depending on the size, the price changes”, describes Moro.

Medeiros adds that “China sees pirapitinga as a combat product, sold to consumers with low purchasing power in Africa and India”. “The price is lower, but they win in volume,” he says.

What about Brazil?

Despite having an extensive coastline and the largest amount of water resources on the planet, the country is far from leading the fish market.

FAO calculates that Brazil produced 1.3 million tons of fish for consumption in 2020. This makes the country occupy the 21st position in the world ranking, behind nations with less territory, such as Ecuador, Morocco, Japan and Peru.

It is also curious to think that the fish most consumed by Brazilians is “foreign”: tilapia, originally from the Nile River, on the African continent, reigns supreme in the country’s kitchens.

The 2022 yearbook of Peixe BR points out that tilapia already represents 63.5% of Brazilian production (486.2 thousand tons), and the tendency is for this number to rise to 80% by the end of the decade.

Following, the country’s native fish appear, which today represent 31.2% of the total (262.3 thousand tons). And the main representative of the group is precisely the tambaqui.

The big problem, point out the researchers, is that this consumption of native fish is concentrated mainly in the North and Midwest regions, and tambaqui, matrinxã, pirarucu and other meats are much less frequent in homes in the Northeast, Southeast and South, where the population density is higher.

For Moro, there are at least three obstacles to the popularization of these fish.

“Let’s take tilapia as an example. It has a high quality protein, a competitive price and is easy to prepare”, he says.

“Tambaqui and other Amazonian fish are sold whole and have bones between the muscles, which makes preparation and consumption difficult.”

The challenge, then, is to develop strains with fewer bones and more meat, capable of growing quickly and having a standard size.

This is more or less the path that led tilapia and salmon to successful sales in markets and fishmongers: over the last 40 years, several studies have been carried out with the objective of developing a product that combines a series of desirable characteristics, such as tenderness, taste, ease of preparation…

And the same process has already started to be done with the tambaqui itself more recently. In addition to the work carried out in China and the rest of Asia, Brazilian researchers are also thinking about how to develop this sector here.

“In the last five or six years, we have been working at Embrapa on ways to guarantee the traceability of tambaquis, to guarantee that that product was not removed from nature unduly”, highlights Moro.

“This is something that will certainly make a difference, especially when it comes to exporting fish to markets that are increasingly concerned with the sustainable management of resources.”

Brazilian scientists have also discovered tambaqui strains that have little or no spine between the muscles, which in the future may yield larger cuts that are easier to prepare or consume.

a huge potential

Among the specialists heard by BBC News Brasil, there is no doubt that fish such as tambaqui can boost the domestic market and even exports.

“It is an excellent quality meat, much appreciated by the public, with which it is possible to make different cuts and dishes, such as sirloin, ribs, moqueca, fried baits or roasted fillets”, says Antonio Leonardo, from the Center for Research and Development of Continental Fish, from the Fisheries Institute of São Paulo.

Another positive point of tambaqui is the ease of production. After all, it is a resistant species that grows quickly – in nature, it can reach up to 30 or 40 kilos.

“Furthermore, the tambaqui feeds mainly on fruits. This means that, in order to develop, it does not depend on fish meal used in other creations”, says zootechnician Alexandre Hilsdorf, researcher at the Integrated Biotechnology Nucleus at the University of Mogi das Cruzes, in Sao Paulo.

“These meals are becoming a sustainability issue, as companies need to capture fish to process and turn into feed for other fish.”

“Gathering all these characteristics, for me there is no doubt that fish like the tambaqui can become a commodity in the future”, says Hilsdorf, who published an article last year on the sustainable production of this fish.

The forest economy standing

But can’t increasing the production of native fish represent a threat to biodiversity?

“Fish farming depends on the environment. Without the balance of natural resources, our business fails”, replies Leonardo.

For Val, it is possible to encourage this market without destroying nature: “The secret is in managing the species.”

The biologist even believes that there is potential for developing the production not only of tambaqui, but also of pirarucu, jaraqui, matrinxã and other varieties popular among Amazon residents.

“We know that the matrinxã, for example, can be produced in small streams spread across the Amazon. A channel 20 meters long, two meters wide and one meter deep is capable of generating up to a ton of this fish per year”, he calculates. the biologist.

“Now, imagine that this small stream is managed by a family of four, who will consume 400 kilos of fish per year. The 600 kilos that are left over could be sold to cooperatives, which would process and sell on a large scale”, complements.

According to the specialist, “the most important product of the bioeconomy, or the economy of the standing forest, is information”.

“By knowing how the fish live, eat and reproduce, we have the mastery of knowledge to manage properly, without harming biodiversity”, he concludes.

This text was originally published here.

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