MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner promises support for fisheries sector.

Elected President Néstor Kirchner's, who takes office May 25 says the fishing industry will form a substantial part of Argentina's economic and social development. He intends to strengthen fishing and associated industries in existing production areas, optimizing the benefits of a rational and sustainable use of fishery resources.

One of the pillars of Kirchner's policy is to establish a regulatory framework - based on Federal Law Nº 24,922 - and combine it with existing provincial laws to avoid discrepancies in setting quotas, applying fishing bans, issuing fishing permits and setting fees. He plans to implement a fisheries management policy based on the transferable individual quota system. In his electoral platform Mr. Kirchner promises that the public fisheries sector will be modernized and occupy an appropriate position in the State hierarchy. He also guarantees to consolidate the functioning of the Federal Fisheries Council as an inter-jurisdictional organism.

Mr. Kirchner firmly believes that technical and scientific research is vital to the process of sustainable development, which he hopes to achieve through technical advances and diversification. He proposes to federalize fisheries research and focus studies on better use of living aquatic resources.

Argentina's aquaculture sector is considered underdeveloped compared with Brazil or Chile but the electoral platform reveals plans for a national development and consolidation programme for aquaculture.

To improve fisheries surveillance, Kirchner plans to reinstate the satellite monitoring system, which has been out of order since mid-2002. He also wants to set up a land-based coastal radar system for monitoring vessels that operate in national waters and those neighbouring the EEZ.

For the last 10 years, Kirchner has been governor of Santa Cruz, one of Patagonia 's most important fishing areas. During that time, coastal fishing has seen tremendous growth. But this has not been reflected in an increase in added value manufacturing, nor in an increase in fishing related jobs, even though Santa Cruz is home to Puerto Deseado - one of the most important fishing cities where major national and multinational companies are based.

(FIS/MP).