MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries crisis affects Puerto Deseado.

The crisis facing the fishing industry is obviously affecting our port as well, given the significant drop in the total volume exported compared with previous years,” says a report issued by the Municipality of Port Deseado, Santa Cruz Province.

The report, which outlines the port's activity during 2000, says total exports from Port Deseado amounted to 113,193 tonnes last year, representing a 12 per cent drop on 1999's figure. Total exports of fisheries products fell 24 per cent to 72,664 tonnes. Fish exports were 48 per cent lower than those of 1999, amounting to 27,675 tonnes, and squid exports fell 26 per cent to 23,924 tonnes. Shrimp exports, however, rose 89 per cent to 21,065 tonnes.

During 2000, the movement of merchant ships fell 24 per cent compared with the previous year, while the number of fishing vessels operating at the port rose 10 per cent, mainly due to the shorter trips made by shrimp vessels.

The lower catches and restrictions imposed on the fishing sector led to a decrease in freight, which in turn resulted in more unemployment. The workforce was cut 7 per cent compared with 1999 and 17 per cent compared with 1998.

According to available data, processing plant workers were the worst affected, due to intermittent activity at the plants and less frequent landings.

Source: FIS