MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries Hot News.

Headlines:
Mar del Plata benefits from lack of squid in the south; Japan and Peru at odds over squid licences; Galician jiggers set eyes on Greenland; Chile and China discuss high seas fishing.

Mar del Plata benefits from lack of squid in the south

The Argentine port of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires Province is benefiting from the shortage of squid in the South Atlantic because although catches are not abundant they are all being landed there. The lack of squid in southern fishing grounds prompted the squid fleet to move northwards up to parallel 44º S, even when stocks were not abundant in this area either. Nevertheless, forty vessels have arrived to discharge their landings in Mar del Plata during the last few weeks, reports local newspaper La Capital. The National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (Inidep) had already warned about the scarcity of squid in the south, and the poor results of the current season have confirmed the institute's predictions. Inidep Director Ramiro Sánchez warned over a month ago that squid stocks to the south of parallel 44 had dropped below advisable limits and the fishery was closed before the end of the season. As a result, most of the fleet focused on the northern area, although companies fishing squid there have also complained of poor results. Oscar Fortunato, head of the Argentine Fishing Companies Council (Cepa), said that following the suspension fishing in the south, some companies were trying to catch what little they could find in the north, but most companies had come to terms with the fact that squid will not be very profitable this year. "Some companies are aborting their operations because catches are very low and are not enough to cover the expenses of each trip," he told La Capital. At the moment there are no jiggers operating, so landings have come from fresh fish vessels or conventional trawlers that had Illex as bycatch. Industry observers say the situation is worse than the 2002 season. But the situation in the south has been a boom for Mar del Plata. General Manager of the port consortium Omar Alonso said the organization had benefited from "the unexpected visit of forty vessels that pay more than ARS 100 daily for demurrage". He added that this was a considerable sum, "given that fresh fish vessels based permanently in the port pay around ARS 400 every three months". And even when landings were not abundant - some vessel landed only 40 or 50 tonnes of squid, although their capacity is 350 tonnes - Mr. Alonso admitted that the situation had tested the port's capacity for handling an unusually large number of vessels. "It is very important that squid vessels put in at Mar del Plata because that is what we have been seeking for many years. The aim was to become a multipurpose port and not just a fishing port," said Mr. Alonso. (FIS/MP).-

Japan and Peru at odds over squid licences

Japanese government representatives met their Peruvian counterparts recently to discuss fisheries issues and negotiate a new fishing agreement that they hope to sign later this year. The two countries have clashed in previous years over the fishing fees set by the Peruvian government for the squid fishery. During the recent negotiations, Japan put forward a proposal based on previous agreements with other countries that sets out terms for the fishery and broaches the subject of cooperation with Peru. The proposal was welcomed by Peruvian officials who specifically referred to maintaining the existing infrastructure and research studies on the El Niño phenomenon. The Peruvian government is inviting tenders for the squid fishing licences, as it did last year, and has promised to review the cost of licences at the request of the Japanese officials who said the fees were too high. Details of the 2003 tender conditions emerged on 23 May. The licence fee is based on vessel tonnage and catches, with a flat rate of USD 350 per vessel tonne plus an additional USD 30 per tonne of squid caught. The quota is set at 30,000 tonnes - almost 900 tonnes per vessel - which is considerably lower than last year's 1,400 tonnes per vessel. (FIS/MP).-

Galician jiggers set eyes on Greenland

The Galician fleet that used to fish in Morocco wants European Union (EU) permission to fish in Greenland's waters. The fleet is hoping to take advantage of uncompleted quotas for which the EU pays Greenland more than EUR 40 million per year. According to the vessels owners, other member states are not fully exploiting their share. Ramón Fontán, managing director of the National Association of Cephalopod Vessels (Anacef), says the UK, France, Germany, Denmark and Belgium, are willing to cede part of their Greenland quotas to Spain. The Spanish vessel owners are especially interested in species like halibut and redfish, which are abundant in those waters. Anacef members are also keen to carry out a test fishery for squid, Jumbo flying squid and octopus because large amounts of cephalopods have been found inside whales' stomachs for the past year by researchers in Greenland. A team of biologists from Greenland will carry out research using two vessels loaned by Anacef to assess the viability of such fisheries. Ramón Fontán told Faro de Vigo that of the seventy-seven cephalopod vessels that fished in Morocco until 1999, eighteen were scrapped, fourteen were exported to joint ventures set up in Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Angola, Argentina and Brazil, and one has been leased to Namibia. Three vessels that operate in Argentina catch shrimp in the gulf of San Jorge and those in Brazil catch grouper. There are currently five Spanish flagged vessels operating in Mauritania, another five in Senegal and ten in Guinea Bissau. These are all countries that have fishing agreements with the EU. (FIS/MP).-

Chile and China discuss high seas fishing

China has agreed to start negotiations with the Chilean Government over the activity of its fleet on the border of the country's 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), especially in the horse mackerel fishery. News of the negotiations, announced last week by Fisheries Undersecretary Felipe Sandoval follow the domestic fleet's repeated requests for action to be taken against the "uncontrolled and unregulated" fishing of horse mackerel by foreign vessels on the country's maritime border. According to an official during 2001, twenty-two foreign fishing vessels navigated close to national waters, but last year the figure rose to 133 vessels. The report indicates that a large number of Chinese and Japanese vessels have switched their fishing area from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean with 58 vessels of these nationalities operating in the area last year. against just twelve in 2001. Chilean Region VIII fishing industrialists also warned about the unfair competition from the increase in foreign vessels and alerted the authorities to the "possible plundering of resources" by the hundred or so Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Spanish vessel fishing near the EEZ. In response to their calls for action, the government promised "to exercise Chile's rights under international law". The Chilean Foreign Office said it would operate on the basis that everything within the EEZ belonged to the nation and "everything outside the EEZ was open to negotiation with other countries that operating in the area". Felipe Sandoval told El Mercurio that Chile planned to begin a process to impose international deep-sea fisheries management regulations that would allow the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. He said it was pointless having rational management of fishing resources on the coast, if there were no corresponding regulations over high-seas fisheries. (FIS/MP).