Next Monday, April 11, the shrimp ban ends

Next Monday, April 11, the shrimp ban will end and 135 industrial ships and 329 artisanal ships will set sail, at noon, from the port of Vacamonte.

The Minister of Agricultural Development, Augusto Valderrama, and the General Administrator of the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama (ARAP), Flor Torrijos, inspected the El Vikingo vessel to make sure that everything was in order.

The ARAP is the entity in charge of supervising that the ships have the Turtle Excluder Device (DET’s), and are prepared for the next departure. This device is an essential requirement for safe fishing and to comply with the standards of international organizations.

According to figures from the Ministry of Agricultural Development, Panama exported $32.4 million in shrimp last year, becoming the second most important export product for the country, preceded only by bananas.