HISTORY OF RAINBOW TROUT (Oncorhynchus mykiss) PRODUCTION IN THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL MEXICO

Aquaculture is the food production sector with the highest growth worldwide. Latin America has seen a remarkable development; Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador and Chile are major producers of aquaculture species such as salmon, trout, tilapia, and shrimp.

In Mexico, the rainbow trout production was the first to be established in continental waters. It has been a successful activity for the rural communities; nevertheless there are few references that describe its development, consequently its difficult to interpret the development of the activity. The objective of this research was to analyze the historical development of the production of rainbow trout in Mexico. We interviewed key informants and analysis of historical documents was performed.

The results indicate that trout culture development in Mexico, was necessary to have a two factors combination that sparked the beginning of the activity; first the search for alternatives by the Mexican government to provide quality food to rural communities with high indexes of poverty; the second factor were the environmental conditions that favor the biological requirements of the species and consequently their establishment. The rainbow trout production has developed in three stages:  1) Early development, public policies focused the comprehensive utilization of natural resources to improve the nutritional level of the rural areas through repopulation of trout in rivers and dams; 2) Establishment and promotion of the production, decisive support policies, the right environment and demand for the product by consumers encouraged the establishment of more than 1000 farms; 3) Consolidation of trout production, characterized by the establishment of production units with a business paradigm and the emergence of standards for food safety certificates.