More than two years after Cuban Vice Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca urged citizens to raise fish at home, the idea continues to spark more jokes than family meals. Despite the logic in promoting small-scale aquaculture, the government's lack of support has hindered its success. Overexploitation of marine resources and economic woes exacerbate Cuba's fish shortages.
Vice Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca's proposal, made over two years ago, drew from Asian small-scale aquaculture models that provide high-quality protein at low cost, which the UN has promoted in developing countries. Yet, like prior efforts in pig farming and rice cultivation in the 2010s, the government provided only the idea, without resources, tax incentives, or support for private or foreign investment.
A 2018 study in the Cuban Journal of Fisheries Research found 79.6% of marine fishing resources overexploited or collapsed, with all northern coast zones at alarming levels. The first fishing law of July 2019 changed little, leading authorities to impose harsher penalties and moratoriums, such as the five-year ban on Creole grouper capture starting December 2024 to save the species from collapse.
State fishing companies, whose catches mainly go to exports like lobster and shrimp, saw a 73% drop in exports from 2019 to 2023. Amid this, fishermen like Raciel work in a gray area of illegality. Holding sport fishing permits, he travels four times a week from Camagüey to reservoirs like La Jía and Jimaguayú to catch tilapia and catfish during the dry season until May. "As such, we are not authorized to fish for sale," Raciel explains, selling informally at low prices: under 250 pesos per pound for catfish, versus over 650 for pork.
In a nation where the minimum wage is 2,100 pesos (under $5) and the 2025 average was around 6,700 pesos ($14), such informal earnings are essential. Aquaculture could ease shortages, but it demands investments the government cannot provide.