Leardini Pescados facilities. (Photo: Leardini Pescados)

The fishing industry of Santa Catarina shows warning signs

Three fishing companies of Santa Catarina have shown a warning sign about the crisis faced by the fishing industry in this state in southern Brazil, a situation attributed to the imported products, the strengthening of the US dollar and the adjustment in fuel and electricity prices.

Leardini, JMS Fish and Pionera da Costa have already resorted to Court to try to prevent their respective bankruptcy.

Leardini, located in the town of Navegantes, carries a debt of BRL 121 million (USD 38.4 million). Their executives argue that this is due to the rising dollar, the decline in raw materials and the difficulty in obtaining loans, reported O Sol Diario.

For its part, JMS Pescados achieved the approval of a recovery plan to pay BRL 22.2 million (USD 7 million) differentially to workers, banks and suppliers.

The managers of this company, which was founded in 2003 in the town of Penha and is one of the largest buyers of tilapia in the country, complain about the low profit margin after tax changes in the economic policy of the federal government.

As for Pioneira da Costa, one of the most famous fishing firms in Santa Catarina, the Court granted judicial recovery in late May, a legal instrument to negotiate its debt of BRL 34 million (USD 10.8 million) and avoid bankruptcy, as it is published by Zero Hora.

This Porto Belo-based firm employs 400 people and exports to various countries of Mercosur, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

According to the president of the Union of Shipowners and Seafood Industry of Itajaí and of the Region (SINDIPI), Giovani Monteiro, the sector is undergoing difficulties and recognizes that the entry of imported fish has changed the behaviour of the industry.

"Those working in the line of frozen products, such as Leardini, Pionera da Costa and JMS, are competing with trading companies that do not have employees on the production line and pay less tax rate than our supply chain," explains Monteiro.

On the other hand, Paulo Ricardo Schwingel, oceanographer responsible for Fishery Studies Group at the University of Vale do Itajaí (Univali), stresses that there has not been a significant decline in natural resources in recent years.

In his view, the problem faced by the sector lies in the management of companies.

"These companies may have been affected by the rising dollar. Their debt may have risen to 150 per cent in a year, if they made investments in that currency," adds Schwingel.

According to the oceanographer, the only recorded decline in fishing was that of bonito (skipjack), a tuna species used to make preserves. However, he clarified that the companies that have resorted to Court do not work with that kind of fish.

According to the attorney João Lace Kuhn, specialized in Commercial Law and Civil Process, over 50 per cent of the companies has succeeded in entering a process of judicial recovery.

"Those who do not make it is because they did not perform a good approach or because the conditions to be restructured did not exist," he pointed out.

Related article:

- Court ruling allows Leardini Pescados to avoid bankruptcy

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
 

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