Image: Revista Puerto / FIS

Shrimp: CAPeCA and CAPIP Request Quotas

ARGENTINA
Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

During the Monitoring Commission meeting, CAPeCA and CAPIP presented a document in which they seek to limit the access of freshwater vessels to the fishery and their catch. Given a future quota scenario, they aim for 55% to be for freezers. They also requested that 50% of the catch be allowed to queue.

The companies associated with CAPeCA and CAPIP presented a note at the meeting of the Shrimp (Pleoticus Muelleri) Monitoring Commission, asking that no more permits be granted due to reformulation, that quotas not be extended to those who do not have a permit for the species, which in a quotation scenario 55% be for freezers, presenting a series of arguments; and that special attention be paid to the quality and levels of catches of the freshers. They have also requested to be allowed to process 50% of the catch as tails on board.

Source: CAPIP

Eduardo Boiero from CAPeCA and Agustín de la Fuente from CAPIP have pointed out that, given the development observed in recent seasons, it is necessary to analyze some regulatory measures to achieve “a fishery that guarantees many years of productive activity, and that complies with the parameters , objectives and purpose established by the Federal Fisheries Law.

The first request was addressed to the Federal Fisheries Council: “That the fishing effort on the species not continue to increase” and that “no more new permits be granted, either under the reformulation mechanism without a history of shrimp captures” or for any reason. another mechanism. “Any new incorporation must be the product of replacement of units with historical catches of this species or quotas already assigned or transfer of quotas,” they summarized.

Anticipating a future quota scenario and promoting it, they have indicated that there must be a modification of the current Olympic shrimp fishing regime and proceed as established in article 27 of the Fisheries Law: “If progress is made in the quota, historical participation will be taken into account. as a whole of the freezer fleet in the catches.”

"In this sense, we request that at least the average of the best 10 years of catches be taken to be able to determine that historical participation, which cannot be less than 55% of the total fishery in any case, considering both national and provincial waters," they maintained from the fishing cameras.

This request is based on the following argument, which they indicated should be taken into account when establishing the quota parameters: “The owners of the freezer vessels, who have been in this fishery for years, are the ones who have had to make significant investments in the ports where they settled, to be able to dedicate themselves to shrimp fishing. "They have been fundamental in the development of the country's main coastal port cities."

"They are the ones who made the Argentine shrimp a brand in the world and who opened the main markets that this product has today, giving it the greatest added value, who generate the most foreign exchange per kilo caught and, in addition, they are the ones who employ the most labor in dependency relationship they generate, with AFIP Forms 931 available to provide this information. It is these companies that carry out the vast majority of the process on land and the production of by-products, generating jobs in all coastal provinces,” they noted.

On the other hand, they highlighted the fact that this fleet operates on the resource, only at the time when its fishing is enabled, "which is increasingly shorter," they said and added that then the boats remain moored without generating income. “companies having their annualized structures and fixed costs.”

Targeting the deep-sea freshwater fleet

Relying on INIDEP documentation, they have pointed out that “the decline in the shrimp population would be due, to a large extent, to the increase in the effort applied since 2017, with the entry of the deep-sea freshwater fleet, both in number of boats and on operating days.”

Based on this, they requested that these reports be taken into account and “measures be implemented to prevent excessive daily fishing, which could lead to the rapid displacement and depletion of shrimp concentrations, as has been seen in the current season.” ”In contrast, they have pointed out that the freezer fleet has reduced its catches by 30% compared to average historical values, “operating fewer and fewer days.”

One of the modifications that fresh fish shipowners have requested in this commission and before the CFP through CAPEAR-ALFA is to take the tide time from 72 hours from port departure to arrival to 72 effective fishing hours. This limitation has the sole purpose of guaranteeing the quality of the product. CAPeCA and CAPIP have not openly spoken out against it, but have requested that management measures be implemented on this fleet “that guarantee the best quality of the product, through responsible fishing practices that also prevent overfishing of the resource.”

 

 

 

 

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They have pointed out that “fishing in excessive quantities not only puts its sustainability at risk, but also inevitably affects the quality of the product, as mentioned by INIDEP on repeated occasions. Needless to say, the freezer fleet already has measures for this purpose since resolution 1113/88, which not only shortened the catch capacity of this fleet, but also its daily production.

Regarding the possibility of multiplying the quotas in this fleet stratum, they have required that “only those vessels be allowed whose quota actually comes from shrimp and whose origin is a consequence of their quotaification in the years of lower total catches. We understand that this was the origin and reason for establishing the multiplier and not others. That is to say, they do not multiply the quota when it is the so-called “non-quotaed species.” They also asked to limit social quotas and that they only be granted to vessels with shrimp permits.

Bycatch on hake fishers

Source: Stockfile FIS

The representatives of the chambers have demanded strict control in the management of shrimp bycatch in the hake fishery, “since the fresh fleet that operates on hake as a target species exceeds in an exaggerated and overwhelming manner, at certain times of the year and geographical locations, the maximum percentages of bycatch of shrimp, thus distorting the ecosystem purpose of the actions and rules that are dictated for the regulation of bycatch.

Increase shrimp tail production

Source: Conarpesa -->

The only specific request that they have made for the freezer fleet, with a view to the season that is about to begin, is that they be allowed to increase the current limit of cola production on board, which has been set at 30%, with the objective to meet a demand that they cannot access due to lack of product in a very complicated commercial context for whole shrimp.

"In response to the current conditions of the traditional markets for whole shrimp and in order to be able to expand our production to other markets, it is requested that the possibility of producing tails on board for up to 50% of the total caught be authorized," they concluded.

It is expected that the issues raised will generate a deep debate during the year within the Federal Fisheries Council with the active participation that CAPEAR-ALFA has shown in this type of debate, a chamber that represents a large part of the fresh fishing vessels that entered the the fishery through reformulations.

Author: Karina Fernández | Revista Puerto (Translated from the original in Spanish)

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