To Vieques Aquaponics, Inc.

To market high quality, locally grown, fresh, affordably priced, aquaponically grown (i) produce, (ii) fish, and (iii) prawns for local marketplaces thereby, reducing the dependency on imports of fresh produce and fish currently being imported while creating hundreds of local jobs.

The size of the food market in Puerto Rico is reported by the Puerto Rico Planning Board to be $2.8 Billion. Over 85% of the available foods in Puerto Rico are imported and this percentage has increased since the hurricanes of 2017. The Chamber of Marketing, Industry, and Food Distribution of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce (MIDA), reports an increase from 2019 to 2020 of 18%, and monthly increases at the beginning of Summer 2021 was 1.6% in food costs. The Puerto Rican Department of Agriculture Office of Statistics has estimated the annual market for fish at $236 million with 95% of fish being imported. 

Substitution of food imports is and has been a stated priority in every Economic Development Plan proposed by each Governor of Puerto Rico since 1972. Promoting and facilitating both fishing and agriculture is featured prominently in the Master Plan for Sustainable Development of Vieques as well. 

Recently part of the government sector initiatives has been to promote “climate-controlled” agriculture which was not more than shade houses for intensive “greenhouse” horizontal production and hydroponic production facilities. They project that “… widespread use of hydroponic crops is relevant; the main concern with them is actual cost since indoor structures should be safe from nature.” The report estimates that these crops could represent “… as much as a third of the local demand, particularly that of smaller vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuces, etc., and several types of tubers that are currently being imported, opening the door to eventual exportation.” 

Food scarcity in the Caribbean have become an issue of public concern, especially after several hurricanes, and other natural disasters disrupted the importation of all goods including food products. The lack of food stock in groceries and markets, after natural disasters, spotlighted the dependency of imported food in Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean as well.