The lobster processing plant in Pinar del Río is still on a prioritized circuit and receives electricity all day despite its closure
14ymedio, Madrid, October 20, 2025 — There is unrest in La Coloma, Pinar del Río, after the fire that broke out on Saturday, October 11, in the facilities of the Industrial Fishing Company of the municipality, responsible for 45% of the lobster caught in Cuba and 80% of the tuna, both high-value products in the national and international markets. Despite the fact that at this time most of its employees cannot work, the entity has not lost its status of prioritized electricity and receives power constantly, complain residents in the area.
“I want to ask the director of the Electric Company, since he’s not facing up to it, why they are giving power to La Coloma if there is no lobster,” asks an anonymous person on the Facebook page of Ventas Pinar. The author accuses the director of the entity, Yordan Nogueira Tapia, of corruption, although he provides no other evidence than the strangeness of wasting electricity on a circuit that does not need it.
“Even being corrupt you must know and be smart. Now that’s enough, making us beg for a few hours of power that belongs to us by right. Electric power is not a luxury, it’s a necessity, so give us circuit P961,” he demands, adding that this same Saturday the entire city spent 16 hours in a blackout. “I’m not interested in your business, but do it on our behalf, okay? Face it, you ball of corruption, and do an analysis.”
“Electric power is not a luxury, it’s a necessity, so give us circuit P961”
According to the official press, “dozens” of employees are working on the company’s administrative tasks in an attempt to reorganize the reconstruction. Preliminary estimates indicate that some 110 million pesos — approximately $231,578 at the black market exchange rate — will be needed to clean up the mess, “much of it in foreign currency.” Nogueira Tapia, however, does not rule out a future increase in the amount as demolition and waste collection progress.
At the moment, all production lines are affected, from preselection, peeling, cooking and packaging to precooking. The latter, which had already progressed, had the “latest generation machines” acquired in 2022: an automatic sorter and three bagging machines with their respective heat tunnels. The list of damages is never-ending, since not just the machines were affected. Also damaged were tables, stainless steel shelves, air conditioning equipment, walls and false ceilings, zinc covers and even some of the tanks. None of this was saved, and now efforts are being made to get the 44 working lobster boats to fish non-stop.
“That is the only way to overcome this situation, because most of the resources we need are imported, and today a considerable percentage of the currency generated by our business group and our Ministry comes from the lobster,” the director told the State newspaper Granma this weekend, saying that it shifted the responsibility to the fishermen. “They will have to spend more days away from home, because the transfer of what they catch will be to other territories. But we have explained to them that the recovery depends largely on what they are able to do,” he said.
There are 175 workers whose jobs are hanging by a thread: some of them will go to another plant — not specified — which is responsible for the processing of fish, conch and sea cucumber, as well as the preparation of some products not much appreciated by Cubans, like fish croquettes, fish medallions and chopped fish. Some employees will be engaged in the recovery of the burned plant and the rest will be “interrupted,” receiving 60% of their basic salary, which in practice leaves them in a very bad situation despite the fact that this plant was paying salaries far above the company average, 20,000 pesos versus Epicol’s 9,000.
According to a report published by the provincial newspaper Guerrillero, there is only one reason for optimism: “The freezing chambers did not suffer great deterioration, only the hinges and doors,” and three days after the fire they were already in operation, protecting part of the production.
“The freezing chambers did not suffer great deterioration, only the hinges and doors,” and three days after the fire they were already in operation.”
The destroyed plant was about to receive an online European inspection, thanks to the technology implemented, from wifi to ammonia detectors for water quality and temperature controllers monitored from the ice plant.
However, the fishing was no longer going well. Of the 2,700 tons that should have been fished up to the date of the disaster, at least 600 were missing, which the director attributed to such disparate causes as climate change and lack of fuel availability.
This weekend, workers got bogged down in the recovery of materials as some debris could be reused, even if it is in other places. The director, despite the drama, remains optimistic: “Now’s the time to have a better plant design. The one we had was very good, but the new one would be more in line with the latest requirements of the international market,” he said.
Lobster production, one of the most profitable sectors for the State, is already in sharp decline. In 2019, the fishermen of Isla de la Juventud obtained an average of 19 kilos (42 pounds) of lobster per boat, a quantity that fell to 5.8 kilos (13 pounds) in 2024.
As for the country, in the last five years, production has fallen by 84%, from 6,900 tons in 2019 to 1,100 last year. In addition, over five years the production of lobster tail also decreased by 45% (248,600 tons compared to 136,000) and by 9.2% for frozen whole lobster.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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