economy

Trout farm back in business

A major trout exporter in Chiriquí resumes operations after being disrupted by floods.

la prensa

above water: A Boquete trout farm has resumed exporting fresh fish after the recent floods closed it down for several days.1125508

Lamasur Aquaculture, the country's main exporter of fresh trout to the U.S. market, resumed business yesterday after closing for several days because of severe flooding in Boquete.

Those floods have apparently caused severe problems for another business in the industry, Truchas de Bambito.

Luis Lamastus, president of Lamasur Aquaculture, said that his plant, which grows trout near the Caldera River, did not suffer any damage because it had been prepared to deal with floods when it was designed.

“The rains have affected only the roads. I had to close the plant for five days, and Saturday I was able to fly out a shipment bound for the U.S. market,” he said.

Despite the recent flooding, the company expects to end 2008 with a similar volume of exports that it had last year, about 400,000 pounds, which are sold for $4 a pound.

“We can't keep up with the demand of the U.S. market,” Lamastus said. “It's experiencing tremendous growth.”

Lamasur Aquaculture is planning to start exporting a variety of salmon that has successfully adapted to fresh water. When the project is up and running, the company expects to have an export volume of one million pounds of salmon per year, representing an approximate value of $4 million. To this end, the company said it has invested $2 million in new technology.

Lamastus said that the farm's 21 workers were busy during the storm, protecting the ponds from the rush of incoming water.

“In the end, everything was saved because of the respect we have for nature,” the businessman said.