MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News.

Headlines:
Trawler caught in South Atlantic EEZ limits tangle; Argentina's toothfish TAC: 2,250 tons; Poor Illex catches but better than 2004.

Trawler caught in South Atlantic EEZ limits tangle

Faustino Gonzalez Otera, captain of a Spanish trawler allegedly caught poaching in Argentine waters last February 25, strongly denies in an open letter released this week that the vessel "was catching in the Argentine Economic Exclusive Zone, EEZ", and also reveals that Falkland Islands and Argentine delimitation of the area "do not coincide". The captain of the "Juan Antonio Nores" with a crew of 33, and currently detained in Comodoro Rivadavia, details in the letter that in the morning of February 25 a patrol vessel from the Argentine Coast Guard sailed past several Spanish trawlers operating in the area, and since "it did not make contact with us, we understood every thing was legal". However when "Prefecto Fique" was twenty miles away, she turned round and headed for the 72 metres long "Juan Antonio Nores" informing the captain of the "illegal" location of the trawler. This means she was fishing in Argentina's EEZ, 198,6 nautical miles from the Argentine coast reference point, Punta Rasa. A boarding party from the Argentine Coast Guard found approximately 500 tons of fish in the trawler's hauls and no Argentine licence to support the legality of the catch. Further on in the letter Captain Gonzalez Otera argues that Spanish vessels have several reference points which establish the limits of the Argentine EEZ, which supposedly are extended to them by the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department. However the captain argues that these coordinates which separate the Argentine EEZ from international waters "do not coincide with those belonging to the Argentine authorities". From Spain Maritime Fisheries Secretary General Juan Carlos Martin Fragueiro appealed to the Argentine Coast Guard for reconsideration and the liberation of the vessel and crew but to no avail. The Spanish Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry Maritime Monitoring System revealed that the "Juan Antonio Nores", was 199,9 miles from the Argentine coast, that is 185 metres inside the maximum limit allowed. "This a limits precision; we hope we can solve this situation as soon as possible, but following procedures since the trawler is now in an Argentine port", admitted Mr. Fragueiro adding that the already had contacted the Spanish Embassy in Buenos Aires which was sending a staff member to Comodoro Rivadavia to assist the captain and crew members. Apparently since the Spanish vessel did not resist the arrest, the alleged crime is not federal and the situation can be solved by paying a fine ranging a quarter of one million US dollars, reports the Comodoro Rivadavia press after consulting Coast Guard sources. Captain Gonzalez Otera finally trusts that the crew and himself will be let free and requests Spanish authorities to help out with "exact reference points" and so avoid the uncertainties of catching in the South Atlantic. "Juan Antonio Nores" is one of sixteen vessels belonging to the Nores family and operates in Argentine, Falklands, Canadian, Hatton Bank, Mauritania and Senegal fisheries among others, plus having the freezing storage and commercial outlets to market their own fleet catches.

Argentina's toothfish TAC: 2,250 tons

Argentina's Fisheries Federal Council established a Total Allowable Catch of 2,250 tons of toothfish for the current season, similar to that of 2004. However the distribution of the TAC volume concentrated in two companies, even when complying with the Federal Fisheries Bill, promises not to remain unnoticed, and is contrary to "monopoly situations" involving certain species, points out Mar del Plata fisheries specialized press. Of that total volume, 982 tons are considered incidental, while the rest is distributed among fishing vessels with a toothfish record greater than 1% of the total species catch in the period determined by Bill 24.922. Furthermore it establishes conditions for those longliners with a 3% total volume catch in 2003 and 2004, with distribution proportional to vessels involved catches in the period ranging from 1989 to 1996. The list of licensed longliners are Antarctic I; Antartic II; Antarctic III; Echizen Maru; and Viento Del Sur. Besides the toothfish monitoring committee created with the purpose of achieving consensus among toothfish operators was virtually dissolved, reports Pescaonline.

Poor Illex catches but better than 2004

Argentine Rio Gallegos fisheries sources indicate that jigger catches of Illex are averaging ten tons per day. This is quiet a drop from the beginning of the season when averages totalled 25 tons per day. However jiggers are hopeful averages will recover during the rest of the season. Last year, according to Mar del Plata's Fisheries Research and Development Institute, the average was six tons per day. A better idea of prospects is expected once the results of the current scientific research cruise undertaken south of parallel 45 S are known.