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Shrimp Fishery Management: A Priority for Sustainability
ARGENTINA
Tuesday, December 16, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)
Quotas, Access Rights, and the Socioeconomic Impact of the Rawson Fleet Are Central Issues in the Argentine Fishing Sector Debate
The management of the Argentine Red Shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) fishery has become the central topic of the fishing debate in Argentina. Although the discussion has so far taken place mainly among private actors, Agustín de la Fuente, president of the Argentine Patagonian Chamber of Fishing Industrialists (CAPIP), insists that the implementing authorities—the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) and the Undersecretariat of Fisheries—must take the initiative and lead the process.
In an exclusive report by Guillermo Nahum for REVISTA PUERTO, De la Fuente emphasizes that establishing quotas is a necessary step towards sustainability, but warns that any progress must be prudent and must recognize the economic and social development generated around this resource, especially in the province of Chubut.
The Path to Management and Quotas
For the head of CAPIP, the law is clear about who has the legitimate right to access the fishing ground, but it is the Implementing Authority that must formally define it.
"We have been asking for a management plan for the fishery for a long time, together with CAPeCa and several independent parties... Quotas can provide a plan, but it is a process that will take time," explains De la Fuente.
This process, according to the businessman, is vital, as the current stock is the result of years of "care and good administration" coordinated between the industry and the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP). The turning point, which began around 7,000 tons in 2005 and evolved with the paddock system promoted by the team of Daniel Bertuche at INIDEP, allowed for the current scenario, where the institute already supports moving toward a quota scheme.
De la Fuente points out that the growth of the resource has been so rapid that it exceeded the regional installed capacity, creating a "great disorder." Considerations of history, investment, and the working capital of vessel owners, as well as the large number of workers dependent on shrimp (approximately 10,000 people in processing plants alone, according to sector estimates), must be taken into account in the management plan.
The Problem of Access and Regional Fleets
A central point of friction is the Rawson fleet (Chubut's yellow fleet) and the vessel owners who accessed the fishing ground with permits that are now under review. While the growth of the Rawson fleet multiplied its capture capacity (new vessels now catch the equivalent of the entire fleet in the year 2000), De la Fuente maintains that the key is the safety and modernization of the ships, beyond the 480 HP power or the 900 crate capacity.
"Any methodology that begins to manage the fishery will help," says De la Fuente, citing as an example the management of the Hubbsi hake (Merluccius hubbsi), whose Maximum Permissible Catch was set at 370,000 tons in a recent Federal Fisheries Council Act, in contrast to the 120 tons that could be fished when the Fisheries Emergency Law was enacted.
CAPIP associated companies
The Challenge of Profitability and Production Restrictions
The president of CAPIP also addressed the profitability issues facing the freezer fleet, which has the longest history in the fishery. Profitability has decreased due to low prices and changing consumption habits. He warns that if the conditions of the collective agreement, export taxes (retentions), and other tributes are not modified, the fishery runs the risk of becoming unprofitable.
De la Fuente proposes eliminating the vessel length limitation once the fishery is subject to quotas, and allowing greater flexibility in the type of product processed on board.
"The Federal Fisheries Council must consider economic and market issues. It cannot be that the freezer vessel is told that it cannot process more than a certain percentage of tail on board... I have a client in Italy who wants to buy tail on board because he has a niche market for that product. Well, let me develop it, let me find a way to make it better," he argues.
Photo: CAPIP
Consensus and Prudence as Key Factors
CAPIP's final message is one of consensus. All actors will have to "give up a little," but the Implementing Authority will have to resolve the submissions and differences, especially those related to vessels that do not have a "genuine right" to access the fishing ground.
The quota system must associate vessels with processing plants through supply contracts, balancing catch history with installed capacity on land. For all these reasons, De la Fuente reiterates the need for "a lot of prudence" and not being "in a hurry to implement the quota system quickly."
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