Photo: courtesy Revista Puerto

They follow the shrimp in subareas 4 and 5

ARGENTINA
Friday, August 20, 2021, 20:00 (GMT + 9)

The Federal Fisheries Council approved the survey and they will begin to search on Monday, following the mark that the fleet found in the north. The fleet operates in several areas and the average catch is holding up very well, exceeding 3,000 kilos per hour. Two subareas were closed due to hake bycatch.

After they found a concentration of the resource in the north, at the height of the parallel of 41 degrees, they began to look for other marks to the south. A survey will be carried out in subareas 4 and 5 that are off Península Valdés. Part of the fleet is distributed in other authorized subareas, where they continue to find shrimp and two subareas were closed due to the presence of hake. The average catch per hour remains above 3,000 kilos and at the moment there is no thought of an eventual early closure of the season.

Photo: Courtesy Revista Puerto

The prospecting, which will begin this Monday with eight freezer ships and two weetfish vessels, will last four days for the first and three for the second, due to the limitations of this fleet stratum. They will sweep the area between the parallels of 42 and 43 degrees South and between the meridians of 60 and 62 degrees West. Fishing operations, as it should always happen, will begin at 7 in the morning.

The observers will collect the information on the catches and once INIDEP sends the results of the survey to the authorities, the opening will proceed immediately if the bycatch conditions of both juvenile shrimp and hake allow it.

The emergence of a major shrimp brand in the north created fear among historic shrimp fishermen because they believed that all the shrimp had moved and the end of the season was approaching. It is that they usually catch in that area from September. But the daily catch data, both in the north and in other subareas located further south, would bring a bit of reassurance. Photo: INIDEP --->

The data provided by INIDEP to the authorities reveal that between July 28 and August 15, the fleet operated in several of the authorized subareas, within the closed area and outside it in Subareas 1 and 2. For all In the fishing area, the average yield was 3,335 kilos per hour and the percentage of juvenile prawns, with commercial categories L4 and below, was less than the biological limit of 20% established. In the freezers, the most processed categories were L1 and L2, in order of importance and represented 83% of the total.

The information sent by the Bycatch Program regarding the incidental catch of hake shows the increase that was registered in some subareas between July 12 and August 15. Only in the last few weeks were values ​​higher than the 20% allowed in subareas 7 and 12 that were already closed by the authorities from zero hours today until August 29 inclusive.

Image: courtesy CAABPA

The trawlers, for their part, requested through the Chamber of Shipowners to the Federal Fisheries Council to renew the authorization to catch 20% of shrimp, which expired on April 30. They argue that in the area “located between the parallels 41 ° and 42 ° of South latitude and the meridians 60 ° and 62 ° of West longitude and in the El Rincón area, the appearance of abundant amounts of mature shrimp coincides in its geographical distribution with hake and mackerel that trawlers seek as target species ”. The request was sent to INIDEP for its opinion.

The season from the biological point of view, in terms of abundance, seems to continue giving tranquility; what remains to be resolved is the way the fleet operates. Compliance with current regulations regarding trawling time, time between sets and hours of capture and treatment of the catches seems to be the greatest challenge, not only for this season but also for future ones. Operating conditions that were designed to preserve the resource and reach land with a quality product.

Source: Revista Puerto (article available only in spanish)

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