L'economie d'un secteur aquacole : la production de Macrobrachium Rosenbergii en Guyane

Aquafarming in Guyana (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii) finds itself confronted today with a serious economic problem linked to a concurrence of factors of differing origins. - The absence of markets (an apparently cyclical phenomenon) has hindered many operations and calls into question the producing sector in its current form (See table 5: stock SICA 1987). But behind this difficulty, other deeper and longer-lasting ones call for questions to be asked. During analysis of the sector, structural blockages appear from the first years of operations, which, combined with the prolonged absence of revenue, accelerates a process of decline (see the spiral of recession in the text). These other factors are: - 1) An environment that hinders the creation of new farms (difficulties and delay of basin construction sites, wavering about the chosen farming techniques, changes while engaged in operations...) - 2) A complete unawareness of the true capabilities of markets and competitors. - 3) An overestimation of possible yields in the first years. - 4) Underestimating cash flow needs and the consequences of taking out a large loan (see appendix 5, corporate earnings). - 5) Difficulty with implementing a solid and sustainable business structure. - 6) A serious and rapid deterioration of relations among the people involved in this production sector caused by a great deal of confusion about the role, attributions and sphere of expertise of each one of them (confusion in particular among IFREMER, France Aquaculture, and Guyane Aquaculture). Taken all together, these factors mean that we must consider today that the solutions proposed in response to the problem of marketing (See appendix 8 on the DDA proposal and appendix 9 on the GEM report), cannot suffice either to revive discontinued farms or to go ahead with planned projects.