Brazil fisheries plea for government aid amid coronavirus pandemic

CJ CheilJedang

20/05/2020 21:37

By Ana Mano
    SAO PAULO, May 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian fish processors are
asking the government for tax breaks, subsidized credit and
emergency loan guarantees, saying they need "oxygen" as the
coronavirus crisis dents demand and leaves a sector employing 1
million Brazilians struggling badly. 
    Economy Minister Paulo Guedes told sector representatives in
a meeting that government aid measures will be announced this
week, according to Eduardo Lobo, president of industry group
Abipesca, who participated in the meeting.
    After restaurants closed and people began to shelter at home
to slow the spread of coronavirus, fish sales fell 50% in Brazil
and boats in the country's northeast have nowhere to sell their
catch, Abipesca and boat owners said.
    "Brazil's response to defend the sector has lagged, while
competing fishing nations are protected," Lobo said.
    With relatively low fish production despite its about
7,500-km (4,600-mile) coastline, Brazil is regarded as a
sleeping seafood giant.    
    Brazil only produces 1.3 million tonnes of fish per year,
with 700,000 tonnes coming from capture fisheries and 600,000
tonnes from aquaculture fisheries, according to data from the
United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. 
    The country's fish exports totaled $300 million and imports
were $1.1 billion in 2019, FAO says.    
    Gabriel de Araujo, president of a fishermen's union, told
Reuters after the pandemic hit, boats in the northeast have
stopped fishing in deep waters because there is no market for
specialty tuna.
    Cancellation of flights to the United States severely
constrained exports, he said. 
    Northeastern boats catch about 26,000 tonnes of big-eye and
yellowfin tuna every year, with much of that going to Sao Paulo
and U.S. sushi restaurants, Araujo said.
    Thiago De Luca, director at family-owned fish processor
Frescatto, said without government help, there will be more pain
and inevitable job cuts.
    "This crisis is different from the other crises," De Luca
said.

 (Reporting by Ana Mano
Editing by Alistair Bell)
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