Expansion proposal of the Galapagos Reserve worries the fishing sector

ECUADOR
Monday, December 23, 2019, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

The fishing sector has presented its rejection stance against the proposal to expand the Galapagos Marine Reserve. The project, which is being processed in the Biodiversity Commission of the National Assembly, proposes to extend the area from 40 to 80 miles.

The Galapagos Marine Reserve was created in 1998, with the issuance of the Special Regime Law for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the province of Galapagos, and comprises 133,000 square kilometers, being the second largest in the world, recalled the National Fisheries Chamber in a statement.

"The expansion threatens the fishing activity that generates more than USD 1.6 billion in foreign currency for the country," said the president of the National Fisheries Chamber, Bruno Leone, on Thursday, December 19, 2019, in Guayaquil.

The leader said that the intention to expand the reserve allegedly lacks a technical study and would directly affect the small fishing fleet that performs its tasks in that area. This type of vessels represents 60% within the tuna sector.

For Olmedo Zambrano, president (e) of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Tuna Industry and Processors (CEIPA), fishing in that area is what moves the country's tuna industry.

"Tuna is migratory, so if you can't fish within that perimeter, the fish will migrate and be fished by other fleets."

This would represent, according to Zambrano, the loss of the raw material that is industrialized to later export to the European Union, one of the main buyers.

Zambrano and Leone agree that the increase in the reserve area will not make it a better protected area or increase its level of protection. The union urged the Government to analyze the expansion in a dialogue table with representatives of the fisheries sector.

"This measure could annihilate fishing, specifically tuna fishing," Leone said.

The sector proposes to strengthen the sanctions for those who do not respect the 40 miles with a solid legal base.

Map showing the Galapagos Marine Reserve and the EEZs of Ecuador

Additionally, to apply inspection protocols both in areas of national jurisdiction and outside it, as established in the Agreement for the application of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and management of the population of transzonal and migratory fish, of which Ecuador is a party.

The fishing leaders emphasized the results of the “Sustainable Development Plan and Territorial Planning of the Special Galapagos Regime 2015-2020”, which demonstrates how native resources such as cod, 'camotillo' and sea cucumber, under the administration and control of authorities that protect the RMG, are today in a state of overexploitation.

In a press conference, representatives of the fishing and industrial sector announced that they were preparing a technical document to send to President Lenin Moreno and the National Assembly to request an analysis of the proposed extension. In addition to being subjected to a critical analysis of the technical and economic capacity that would be required to monitor such a large maritime space.

Source: El Comercio
 

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