Yahira Piedrahita is an aquaculture engineer (ESPOL), with a diploma in Fishery Economics and a master’s degree in management of Bio Aquatic Resources and Environment. Since 1990, Yahira has been working in different jobs in the shrimp sector, from field technician to executive positions. She has worked in the government sector as General Director of Aquaculture and also as General Director of the National Fisheries Institute, from where she was in charge of the administration and regulation of the shrimp industry, as well as the certification of quality and food safety of exports of fishery and aquaculture products from Ecuador, respectively. She has also worked as an expert in fisheries and aquaculture for the Dutch Import Promotion Center (CBI), the European Union, and the United Nations (UNIDO and FAO). Currently, she is a board member of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS). Since 2011, she has been Executive Director of the National Aquaculture Chamber, an organization that represents the Ecuadorian shrimp industry.
