Factors that determine the competitiveness of the Cruz de Piedra aquaculture park in Empalme, Sonora, México

Abstract

The theory states that competitiveness is achieved from the ability to improve and innovate; thus the competitive advantage is generated and maintained by means of a process located in sectors. In the state of Sonora (Mexico), aquaculture activity linked to shrimp farming experiences growth through a cycle characterized by ups and downs in production. Aspects such as innocuousness, lack of organization, emergence of diseases, depletion of resources, lack of financing and infrastructure influence their level of competitiveness. This context is faced by the Cruz de Piedra aquaculture park, located in the municipality of Empalme Sonora, which develops a series of factors that determine its productive competitiveness. A mixed study was carried out which included three segments: 1) documentary review on the development of aquaculture in Sonora, 2) analysis of official statistics, estimation of the productive performance of the aquaculture units, and 3) obtaining information in the field, covering the local context of the producers through semi-structured interviews with key informants. Competitiveness is divided in two, a regional external one that includes the use of comparative advantages from the construction of a competitive context (scientific development, legal framework and commercial openness); and another local internal one that includes the generation of competitive advantages within the aquaculture park (social context, technological development, business cohesion, regulation and commercialization). The competitiveness of the park derives from a set of factors that allow it to subsist as a risk activity. The producers develop a set of strategies linked to safety. Therefore, competitiveness is associated with harmlessness, and this is achieved with cohesion and sustainability, elements identified in the Cruz de Piedra aquaculture park.