'The problem surrounding the huge foreign fishing fleet in distant waters, which operates beyond the Argentine maritime border...'

Mile 201 Argentina and squid: There is no legal instrument against the foreign fishing fleet

ARGENTINA
Monday, July 03, 2023, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

The prefect mayor (R) Sergio Almada referred to the legal limitations to prevent ecological and economic damages against our country, generated by foreign fishing vessels in the vicinity of our Exclusive Economic Zone.

"If they operate outside 200 miles, there is no national or international legal instrument that allows Argentina, as a coastal State, to take coercive action against foreign fishing vessels to stop their activity."

This is the crux of the matter linked to the legal limitations to solve the environmental problem resulting from the activity of the foreign fishing fleet in nautical mile 201.

This was stated by the senior prefect (R) Sergio Almada, coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Team for the Control of Maritime Spaces and their Resources (EICEMAR) of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, in the framework of a dissertation for the Bahia Blanca Federal Justice.

Foreign vessels that fish in the vicinity of our Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE) -it is 200 miles long- affect marine ecosystems and Argentine interests in the South Atlantic.

According to the expert, the Argentine Justice cannot prevent large-scale fishing on the high seas, where, he stated, the principle of exclusive jurisdiction of the flag State prevails.

"This means that the flag State of the ship, such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Portugal or Spain, is the only one that can control the fishing vessel on the high seas," said the Maritime Safety graduate.

"The Prefecture cannot board a foreign ship on the high seas, that is, while it is outside 200 miles, without prior authorization from the flag State," he added.

In Almada's opinion, the necessary measures to prosecute and penalize the depredation of fish resources at mile 201 must "come from the international legal system, not from the national one."

There has always been a debate about whether international fishing operations beyond 200 miles are legal or not.

Some -he affirmed- argue that there is freedom of fishing because they are open waters to all States, where the principle of freedom of fishing and navigation prevails.

"Then there are those who maintain that when there is freedom of fishing, there is no illegality," he explained.

"Others think that there is illegality because the species and their reproduction times are not biologically respected. It is a debate that we raised a lot with the team that I coordinate, but at one point we decided not to enter into that discussion anymore," he said.

Infraction or crime

If you fish illegally within 200 miles, it is an infraction to the Federal Fisheries Regime and the Undersecretary of Fisheries, the local enforcement authority, acts.

"But when we try to capture them and they flee to the high seas, the crime of disobedience established in article 239 of the National Penal Code is configured, and the Federal Justice intervenes."

"If they enter at 200 miles, it is another situation and we have the legal instrument that allows us to act coercively against a fleet, so that it stops fishing without limit, conservation or sustainability," he remarked.

International pacts, such as the United Nations (UN) High Seas Treaty, can be a binding tool at the international legal level to reverse the situation at mile 201, according to the teacher's criteria.

"But unilaterally, Argentina, as a coastal State, and the Prefecture cannot do anything beyond its 200 miles, except that there is an incident on the continental shelf, in which we have the right of sovereignty even beyond 200 miles," accurate.

He also highlighted the economic damage caused by this practice, since they capture species such as squid and hake that live inside and outside our EEZ.

"With this talk for judges, we intend to make them aware of the problem in a comprehensive way, not only from the legal point of view but also in terms of other factors to take into account to understand it well, such as the biological-environmental, economic, geopolitical and strategic", said the graduate in Maritime Safety.

The talks in Bahía Blanca were also given by the lawyer sub-prefect Luciana de Santis and the main marine biologist officer Jéssica Chiariandini, also members of EICEMAR.

High seas treaty

The possibility of bilateral or multilateral agreements with the states whose vessels fish in the area, as long as they do not affect Argentine sovereignty claims over the islands (Falklands-Malvinas, Georgias, Sandwich), is seen as an alternative, according to a Prefecture report.

A possible solution to this "complex" problem could be found in the UN High Seas Treaty, aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions.

This legal framework would allow 30% of the world's oceans to be included in protected areas.

Photo: PNA

"With its formal negotiations concluded, but its final text not yet defined, the creation of bodies of an international nature with the possibility of promoting consultation and decision-making mechanisms at a global level, generates, at least for now, a good perspective for change", indicates the study.

Ecological and economic damage

• Excess. By overfishing these species, without a management or control plan, "undoubtedly" the resource will be lacking and the ecosystem will also be damaged, Almada explained.
• Affectation. "If they affect a resource that is within our ZEE and is also fished by the Argentine fleet, the national economy will be affected."
• Benefit. If the Chinese fleet that operates at mile 201, where it is the majority, captures large quantities of squid, it covers the international market with more competitive prices than the Argentine ones, because "it does not enter the port, evades taxes, uses cheap labor and is subsidized by its flag State".
• Limitation. "When our country, which fishes for the same resource, tries to introduce it into that international market with all the costs and taxes that are paid, the values are not competitive and that conditions Argentina's profits."

Source: La Nueva Provincia (translated from original in Spanish)

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