
Despite a relatively buoyant 2011 Illex fishing season and “some optimism for the future,” one jigging company went out of business and others had problems finding the funds to pay licence fees said The Falkland Islands Director of Fisheries John Barton.

An invasive Asian mollusc, Rapana Venosa, is rapidly expanding along the Argentine coastline threatening local ecosystems and fishing activities according to Argentine marine biologists from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, Conicet.

Some fishing companies are feeling “a bit hard done by” having been caught out by a change in the Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department refunds policy implemented for 2011, said Director of Fisheries John Barton.

Argentina and Uruguay have agreed on total allowable catches (TAC) of 4,000 tons and 9,000 tons for smooth-hound shark (Mustelus spp.) and ray (Rajidae) in the Common Fishing Zone (CFZ), which is shared by the neighbouring countries.

The Joint Technical Commission for Maritime Front (CTMFM) ordered a 60-day winter ban on hake (Merluccius hubbsi) in the Argentina-Uruguay Common Fishing Zone (CFZ), effective August 1 until September 30.

Fear of yet another outbreak of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) — an infectious viral disease found in Atlantic salmon — has sparked new debate in Chile’s salmon industry about what kind of regulatory safeguards are most needed.

European Commission has unveiled major plans to reform the EU fishing industry and stop catches being wasted. The proposal, due to take effect from 2013, would give fleets quota shares guaranteed for at least 15 years.

A new global estimate of the impact of longline fisheries on seabirds reveals that, despite efforts to reduce seabird deaths, upwards of 300,000 birds are still being killed every year. However South Georgia is praised for having imposed strict regulations that have seen seabird deaths as bycatch drop by 99%.

Fisheries catches landed in Argentine ports totalled 356.304 tons in the first six months of 2001 which represents a 13.3% over the 314.338 tons of the same period a year ago. However, squid landings in the same period doubled but from a very low 2010 floor, according to the latest data from the Under Secretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Pescanova president, Manuel Fernández de Sousa-Faro, decided to sell 5.1% of the company's stake to Luxempart investment group for EUR 29.76 million.