Now the total has now risen to between 60 per cent and 70 per cent..
"I believe that this consumption has grown fivefold in three years," Mr Crispim told the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce sponsored ABNA.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the highest consumers of grey shrimp in the country, equivalent to 23 kilograms per person per year, according to the Association of Fishermen and Fisheries of Rio de Janeiro (Appaerj).
Mr Crispim said that the secretariat recognises the importance of the domestic market to farmed shrimp production.
"We see the importance of exporting, for generating income to the country. But it is also very important that consumption of fisheries in Brazil grows and that the production chain develops in a balanced way on two pillars, exports and the domestic market," the director said.
Shrimp farming in Brazil started mailnly in the North East, although it was also established in the southeastern Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, and in the southern Santa Catarina, in 1998, where it has been geared to the export market.
The sector presented significant growth up to 2003, when the United States filed an antidumping complaint against the world's seven greatest exporters of shrimp, including Brazil.
Consumption of Farmed Grows in Brazil
BRAZIL - The consumption of shrimp produced on farms has grown fivefold in Brazil in recent years. According to the Trade director at the State Secretariat of Aquaculture and Fishery at the Presidency of the Republic, Guilherme Crispim, just 10 per cent of farmed shrimp was consumed in Brazil in 2003.