Photo: Revista Puerto/FIS

Crisis in Argentina's Shrimp Fishery: Freezer Fleet on the Ropes Amid Wage Dispute

ARGENTINA
Tuesday, July 15, 2025, 06:00 (GMT + 9)

An agreement on basic wages eased one part of the conflict, but the main battle in Argentina's freezer trawler fleet persists. While industry chambers propose a 22% wage reduction due to unprofitability, the SOMU union resists, leaving thousands of sailors in limbo and the shrimp season in jeopardy.

Mar del Plata – Argentina's shrimp fishing industry, a key economic pillar for several coastal regions, finds itself at a critical juncture. While a recent agreement on basic salaries ended the industrial action affecting freezer vessels, the core dispute over wage reductions for shrimp trawlers (vessels that fish for shrimp) remains unresolved. The situation, reported by Karina Fernández of Revista Puerto, reveals a deep paradox between the industry's need for profitability and the union's defense of workers' incomes.

The strike declared by the United Maritime Workers' Union (SOMU) in the freezer fleet not only disrupted the few profitable or barely subsisting fisheries but also left thousands of workers earning for a mere six days in June. Reaching an agreement on basic wages was therefore a necessity for companies, but especially for the workers and the union.

Photo: Revista Puerto

However, the most pressing issue remains: the lack of profitability in the shrimp fishery and a wage adjustment that, according to companies, is essential for vessels to even put to sea. Today, industry chambers and seafarer unions are meeting again at the Ministry of Labor to address lost wages due to the strike, define the application of state fiscal aid on the 70% non-remunerative portion of salaries, and, crucially, determine if SOMU will accept the 22% wage reduction proposed by CAPECA, CAPIP, and CEPA. The alternative is a deepening of the conflict, with the union sticking to its "no to the reduction" motto, which it has maintained since March.

The Profitability Paradox: Wages or Season Closure?

The companies' proposal of a 22% reduction in production-proportional wages became feasible thanks to a government provision allowing 70% of the salary to be considered non-remunerative for the current year. This reduction percentage has already been accepted by one of the captains' unions and by the naval engineers' union, indicating a division within the union front.

Photo: Revista Puerto

The business sector has reported negative profitability as a consequence of a very adverse macroeconomic situation for the export sector, falling international prices, and reduced demand. Labor costs, they argue, have become unsustainable. "The crew is taking 60% of what the vessel invoices," Eduardo Boiero stated last February, insisting that to stay in the frozen shrimp business, this cost had to be reduced to a maximum of 30% or 35%.

SOMU and opposition groups have consistently opposed any wage reduction, adopting a stance aligned with the traditional defense of workers' rights. Nevertheless, the profitability crisis presents a complex dilemma: how can workers' rights be defended without jeopardizing the viability of the companies that provide those jobs? The current situation suggests that a lack of union flexibility, despite its principles, could lead to the collapse of the fishing season and, with it, the incomes of the sailors.

A Four-Month Conflict and the Pressure of Time

"Open the shrimp fishery to discuss the Agreement" was the title of an article in March, which already warned of companies' refusal to fish under current labor conditions, seeking a convention modification before the season. An agreement for May had been sought to allow the season to start in national waters.

Damián Santos, CEO of Grupo San Isidro, posted at that time: "The day the opening occurs, a resource that the market pays an average of Damián Santos, CEO of Grupo San Isidro, had posted on that date: "The day the fishing industry opens, a resource will be available for fishing that the market pays an average of US$5.50, and that requires US$6.50 to fish, process, and sell. Either we don't fish it, or we adjust the business to the new reality. It's very, very simple."

It was clear it wouldn't be simple. In Rawson, an agreement had been reached because there was no decrease in income levels, but now there was no legal way for this to happen, unless the union agreed to modify the convention. Juan Navarro, SOMU's Secretary of Fisheries, had already warned on this same page that they would not: "We will meet as many times as they want, but the answer will be no, no, no, again and again."

Four months passed before SOMU sat down to negotiate. They only did so when companies formally denounced the convention to labor authorities. When they finally engaged in discussion, they avoided technically confronting numbers and analyzing alternatives. They even walked out of a meeting before it began, chanting "We're going to Cristina's march" because the new proposal from the business sector still included a wage reduction.

During this time, sailors have been depleting their savings, accumulating debts, and, in the best cases, selling belongings; others, like relief workers, are directly facing severe hardship that will be difficult to reverse this year. If all freezers were to set sail tomorrow, the active crews, with what little remains of the season, would surely not disembark before it ends.

The Power Game Before Union Elections

Given the time elapsed and the imposition of reality, SOMU has been caught by its lack of flexibility. They haven't even accepted signing an annual agreement and are now committed. If they accept a 22% reduction, they won't be able to explain why they didn't do it sooner; if they remain firm with "no to the reduction," there will be no season.

Either option is bad for SOMU's leadership, which faces re-election in December. On the other hand, opposition groups have also failed to provide common sense or a professional analysis of the situation to offer a solution to the sailors: they remain firm in the "no to the reduction." They, too, are playing their game with an eye on the December elections.

Photo: Revista Puerto

From the business side, there is concern about the market space being left to a fierce competitor like vannamei shrimp; but selling cheaper than it costs to fish is not profitable either, so there is no "desperation to sail." At most, they will make a single trip to avoid jeopardizing permits.

Thus, today's meeting at the Ministry of Labor is crucial to define whether the fleet will go fishing, doing everything possible to save the season before hake alerts signal the end of September, or if everyone will return home, just as has happened repeatedly over the past four months.

[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print