MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

300 poachers in South Atlantic.

Argentina claims 300 vessels, mainly from Far East, are operating in mile 201, just outside of the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ, causing enormous losses to the local squid industry.

"This is a record year: the 300 fishing vessels, mostly jiggers are all lit up catching Argentine squid, and they are supported by 18 cold storage ships that once loaded leave for their country of origin", said Horacio Rieznik Argentina's Director of Fisheries after over flying the area last week in a Navy aircraft.

Mr. Rieznik indicated this was particularly damaging both for Argentine industry and squid's life cycle in the South Atlantic, "since there's no certainty poachers bother to leave sufficient reproductive biomass for the coming season".

Shrimp and squid with overseas sales of 300 and 200 million US dollars, have become Argentina's main fisheries export, surpassing the once unbeatable hake that is suffering from a biological collapse following years of over catching and complete lack of conservation policies.

According to the Argentine Fisheries Development and Research Institute in Mar del Plata, 150 jiggers are sufficient for the season's squid catch, "but there are 350, of which 300 operating along mile 201, and foreigners".

Mr. Rieznik anticipated that Argentina will make a formal international complaint, otherwise the other option is to extend Argentina's policing an additional 150 miles, beyond the current 200, "as happens in countries such as Chile, Peru and Ecuador".

Oscar Fortunato from the Argentine Council of Fishing Companies also complained bitterly about the foreign "floating factories" catching along side the Argentine EEZ, and added that is partly "because the government doesn't allow us to operate in the 170/200 miles strip".

"We're in conditions to operate in that area and beyond if necessary", said Mr. Fortunato who nevertheless warned that "under no circumstances must we allow squid to follow the mad depredation of hake".

Mr. Fortunato also pointed out the discrimination done by Far Eastern countries in their local markets, "Japan, Taiwan impose quotas on our sales of squid but their vessels with Argentine poached squid have no restrictions at all".

Argentine fisheries had a spectacular development starting late sixties, early seventies reaching annual foreign sales of a billion US dollars in the mid nineties, 400 million US dollars more than annual beef sales. Ho