Photo: Revista Puerto/FIS

Argentina's Marine Protected Areas continue without a management plan

ARGENTINA
Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

Fishing industry demands the urgent implementation of Management Plans for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), six years after the legal deadline.

The National Parks Administration (APN) continues to breach the deadlines established by law for the launch of the Fishery and Environmental Management Plans for the Namuncurá-Banco de Burdwood and Yaganes Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This excessive delay, which now exceeds six years since the original limit, is causing a "detriment" to the national industry and has forced the company Argenova, the Argentine subsidiary of the Pescanova Group, to reiterate its request to the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP).

Repeated Demand and Legal Context

The most recent request, originally reported by Revista Puerto, was formalized following the submission of a letter in March of the current year, which failed to elicit an effective response. The document, signed by Argenova's legal representative, Mauro Zamboni, emphasizes that the law creating these MPAs established a maximum period of five years for the generation and implementation of their management plans.

Zamboni pointed out that this delay is creating "a situation of legal and administrative non-compliance that directly affects the continuity and predictability of the operations of the national fleet".

Direct Impact on Patagonian Toothfish and Foreign Competition

The lack of regulatory definition has its most serious impact on the Patagonian Toothfish fishery, one of Argentina's most valuable species. Zamboni asserts that the "responsible and sustainable" exploitation of this resource requires "regulatory clarity and predictability" that the APN is not providing.

• In the case of the Namuncurá-Banco Burdwood MPA, the general management plan is in force, but the Fishery Management Plan, an "essential instrument for ordering compatible activities", remains without definitive approval.

• Regarding the Yaganes MPA, the final document's drafting and the formal start of the Fishery Plan are still in preliminary phases of "participatory elaboration", with no concrete completion date.

Furthermore, the Argenova representative warned that the absence of clear regulation not only hinders national companies but also "favors foreign interests (particularly in the South Atlantic), who are currently exploiting resources in adjacent areas" to the Argentine MPAs, increasing pressure on the zone.

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Delayed Response from the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP)

The CFP finally acknowledged Argenova's letter at its meeting last Thursday. As the only measure, the collegiate body decided to ask the Application Authority to coordinate a meeting with the National Parks Directorate.

The delay in the response is notable: the necessity of calling a meeting in November, and only at the request of the affected parties, highlights the "lack of commitment" of the CFP to its role of safeguarding the sector's interests and the correct application of environmental and fishing legislation.

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