The Federal Fishing Law established that the fishing species of Argentina must be managed through a quota system. Some species such as hubbsi hake, hoki, Patagonian toothfish, southern bluewhiting and scallop are managed under this system, but in the case of shrimp, the main resource of the Argentine Sea, the idea has not even been contemplated. There is a belief that as it is a relatively short-lived species, it is impossible to establish a maximum annual catch that could be distributed among the actors; however, this would not be so. The progress in the investigations has made it possible to establish certain indicators that would allow the design of a quota model under the parameters of the law.

 

 

"The law contemplates the various relevant aspects for maritime fishing: research, conservation and administration of the living resources of the sea, and a fishing regime -which has imposed the administration by Individual Transferable Capture Quotas- with its corresponding regime of infractions”, reads the prologue of Law 24,922 enacted in 1997.

 

In the 2009 regulation, the parameters of the quota were established and the mandate was given to the Federal Fisheries Council for its execution: "The Federal Fisheries Council is empowered to regulate and issue all the necessary norms to establish a system of administration of fishing resources through the granting of catch quotas by species, by vessel, fishing zones and type of fleet”, establishes article 27 of the law.

 

 

 

Popular knowledge, backed by a scientific vision that today has been superseded, left the idea installed in the fishing environment that shrimp cannot be quoted. Being a relatively short-lived species, it has been considered practically impossible to establish a maximum annual catch that could be distributed among those managed.

 

However, with more data and management experience, the researchers were able to approach a number of 200,000 tons as the acceptable annual catch limit in the INIDEP shrimp reports; and this approached the possibility of applying the quota on this resource.

 

 

Based on interviews with different actors in the sector, including biologists specialized in the fishery, we will try to analyze the current scenario, the possibilities of quoting shrimp and the obligation to create a distribution system by the State.

 

No debate on the shrimp quota could take place without first dispelling the ghosts of the impossibility of establishing biological indices that would allow for a distribution, for which we decided to start the discussion with Paula Moriondo Danovaro and Juan de la Garza, undisputed leaders of the Shrimp Program. from INIDEP.

 

 

 

In order to start talking about the shrimp quota, it is necessary, first, to clear up doubts about the possibilities of carrying it out with a short-lived species for which a maximum catch is not established annually. That is why we begin this series of notes with an interview with Paula Moriondo Danovaro, head of the INIDEP Shrimp Program, and Juan de la Garza, who provided details on the concrete possibilities of achieving resource sharing and the advantages that its implementation would bring to the management of the fishery. A paradigm shift that lays the foundations for a necessary debate.

Author: Karina Fernandez / Revista Puerto | | Read the full article by clicking the link here (onl available in spanish)

 

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