MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fishing News

Headlines:
Hake ban in Asturias; “We need to fish less”; Poachers back in Chile; Chilean Navy embarrassment

Hake ban in Asturias

Spanish fishermen currently employed will be entitled to a daily average compensation of EUR 20 during the forthcoming ban on hake fishing, if plans by the Asturian Rural Environment and Fisheries Council are agreed. Proposals for the hake recovery plan will be discussed between union leaders, Brussels and the local Asturias government. The hake ban is scheduled to extend from August 1st. until mid November.

The proposed compensation rate for fishermen ranges between EUR 27.17 and EUR 20.79 per day, depending on the position held on a vessel. Vessel owners will also receive compensation for loss of profits during the ban. Crew and vessel owners will be entitled to compensation if they operate from Asturian ports, use longlines, drift nets, trawls or small fishing gear, and if they can give evidence that hake, last year, represented a significant percentage of their catches last year. Other proposals to protect hake include a month-long biological ban in the spawning season, between March and May, along the Asturian coast. For 2003 and 2004 Fisheries officials are proposing that the biological ban for Carretera and Callejón (north of Lastres) be extended for six months, during summer and autumn, when the maximum concentration of juveniles. At the same time, as an extra measure, they hope to extend the biological ban to the Ribadeo beach.

The Asturias council is also proposes a range of technical measures to protect juveniles and breeding stock during the spawning period. (FIS)

"We need to fish less"

Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler told French fishermen that 'courageous decisions' must be taken to reform the European Fisheries Policy, (CFP) or the sector will be left to its own "inexorable decline". Speaking to fishermen's leaders in Paris as part of his European tour to sell the idea of a shrinking European fleet to national industries, the Commissioner said that in France, fishing made a "valuable contribution to the economy and life of coastal areas from the Channel to the Mediterranean".

He added that "contrary to what has been widely reported", the European Union was not proposing to scrap any given number of vessels or to eliminate thousands of jobs in the fisheries sector. He claimed that 8,000 fishermen's jobs were already being lost annually, but crews could not be found to man vessels because the sector was in decline.

"What we propose, is to secure the future of our fisheries by tackling overcapacity and over fishing which are at the root of the sector's decline, and to provide financial help for those who are leaving the sector," said the Commissioner. "Courageous decisions must be taken to reform the Common Fisheries Policy for the sake of these [coastal] areas. You must play your part in ensuring that they are taken by participating fully in the reform process. If we falter, the sector will simply be left to cope on its own with its inexorable decline."

Mr Fischler said that social responsibility demanded effective action and pointed out to the fact that France alone had lost 5,300 fishing jobs - a quarter of the total ? between 1990 and 1998. He claimed that a consensus on the need for "a complete overhaul" had emerged from the extensive public debate that followed the publication of the Commission Green paper on the reform of the CFP last year.

"While pretending otherwise and doing nothing is an attractive option because it would make for an easier life, this is not the path that the Commission has taken," he added. "We need to fish less. Not all fisheries everywhere are in danger. This is why the Commission proposes that fishing activities be reduced, not across the board, but for those stocks that are seriously threatened. Member States know their fleets and the regions where they are based, so they will decide how these reductions should be implemented, not the Commission".

Despite subsidies, the overall the European fleet remained economically vulnerable to the effects of events such as the increase in the price of oil which ended threatening the viability of so many fishing enterprises. "In fact, subsidies were counter productive since the European fleet was maintained at an unsustainable level, fishing far beyond the stocks available and that, in many cases, were caught even before they reached reproduction age".

"This is one of the reasons why the money used to subsidize renewal of the fleet would be better spent on compensating those who want to leave the sector by giving aid for scrapping vessels, for early retirement schemes, and providing training and grants for those who want to move to other areas".

Finally Commissioner Fischler that the Commission's objective is to keep relative stability ? regarding catch share among Member States ? besides the current restrictions on access in the 12-mile coastal band to protect small-scale fisheries. "This is particularly important in France where three-quarters of the vessels are under 12 meters". (FIS).-

Poachers back in Chile

Thirteen Chilean fishermen, including eight from Punta Arenas, belonging to the longliner "Arbiza I" caught poaching by French authorities in Reunion Island waters, arrived this week in Chile after a long journey through Africa and Europe, according to Jorge Cofré, president of the Magallanes Seamen union.

However another seven crewmembers decided to remain in Reunion Island to claim unpaid salaries and other contract benefits, since "they were not satisfied with the company's offer to pay the return ticket to Chile", and feel they will never be able to recover the money owed.

"Chilean Director of Consular Services Oscar Milet has kept us informed about the situation facing the group, and has made sure our diplomatic legations in Kenya, Madrid and Paris look after them", said Mr. Cofré adding that "this is not new; many good Chilean fishermen have been contracted in good faith by pirate companies that fish illegally, and they end up as the true victims of the operation, virtually abandoned penniless in a foreign country".

French authorities in Reunion island in the Indian Ocean have indicated that the Chilean crewmen overall were "in good health conditions", and pointed out that if the vessel owners did not honor their obligations regarding salaries, lodging and transport back to the country of origin of crewmembers, the French government will organize the repatriation operation.

Chilean Navy embarrassment

The loss last Friday of three Chilean fishermen operating from Puerto Natales whose bodies remain disappeared after their boat was rammed and sunk by a Chilean Navy tug participating in night exercises, is rapidly becoming an embarrassment for naval authorities. Magallanes Region Senator José Ruiz de Giorgio has requested Santiago authorities to name an independent magistrate to investigate the circumstances that led to the tragic collision, in spite of the fact the Chilean Navy has ordered an inquiry since the event occurred in an area of maritime traffic, uncommon for military operations.

"I believe that the tragic events and the loss of lives demands an independent investigation", said Mr. Ruiz de Giorgio on hearing details about the accident.

The thirteen meters coastal vessel "Sandy", with four urchin fishermen was 57 miles west of Puerto Natales and sailing along the Smith channel when the accident occurred. Only one of the crewmembers was rescued from the cold sea when the tug "Leucotón" crashed into "Sandy".

In his report Carlos Ruiz said the four men jumped into the water when they suddenly realized the tug was sailing straight into them. Somehow he managed to survive by hanging onto a rope, and was finally hauled on board the patrol vessel "Puerto Natales", reaching hospital at mid morning the following day. Mr. Ruiz insists that before leaving on Thursday evening to catch urchins they were never informed of the naval exercise, and when "radio contact was finally made, it was too late. The Navy vessels were completely in the dark and there was no way we could sight them".

According to an official release, a Chilean Navy Attorney is investigating the accident, and has already visited the area of the tragic collision, where four Navy vessels with divers and special equipment continue to search for the lost bodies.

The coastal fishermen's union in a press release complained bitterly about the accident claiming this is not the first time they have been surprised by Navy vessels on night patrol or exercises in fishing areas, "without having been previously been warned of these activities, that endanger human lives in the high seas". Puerto Natales port officials declared they were never informed of the Chilean Navy's night activities in spite of the fact that cargo and fishing vessels are quiet common in the area