PUBLISHED : 6 Oct 2023 at 12: 45 A shrimper casts a web at a production pond in Taura, Ecuador on July 31,2023 GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador: From break-ins on land to hold-ups at sea by rifle-toting, hooded guys, Ecuador’s shrimp market is dealingwith a wave of violent criminaloffense that is threatening the nation’s star export. The South American nation is the world’s biggest shrimp exporter, putting one in every 5 of the shellfishes on tables around the world, and this “pink gold” raked in a record $7.3 billion in 2022, according to authorities figures. However, shrimp farmers are being required to shell out millions of dollars in personal security, which might effect the market’s competitiveness compared to nations like India or Vietnam where production is moreaffordable. “We continue to be victims, everyday, of lawbreakers who are muchbetter armed than the cops,” stated Jose Antonio Camposano, president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), which unifies 4,000 shrimp manufacturers and exporters. In the veryfirst 8 months of 2023, the CNA signedup 64 criminaloffenses versus its members, consistingof violent burglaries at sea or along roadways, some leaving deaths and injuries. In one attack, a
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