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Martec buys AquaChile Costa Rican tilapia operations for €5.4M

Rocio Álvarez Jiménez

Martec bought AquaChile operations in Rainforest Tilapia, Costa Rica, for a total of €5.4 million ($6 million). According to AquaChile, the effect on income from this transaction was a total loss of €32.9 million ($36,389,000).

The central American whitefish farmer and wild-catch exporter was founded in 1982 in Quepos, Costa Rica. It is one of the largest marine fish processing and marine aquaculture companies in Central America. With operations in Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States, it produces farmed rose snapper. Besides, it is the largest wild-caught fish exporter in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rican business was the last bastion of AquaChile's species diversity, after it sold its tilapia operations in Panama in 2016. Today, the business comprises a hatchery, farms and a tilapia processing plant in Costa Rica.