MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News

Headlines
Salmon company denies poor employment practices; Brazil targets tripling fishery exports; EC aid finally approved; Fisheries 'must be' withdrawn from Euro Constitution;

Salmon company denies poor employment practices

Chilean company Salmones Mainstream S.A. strenuously denies accusations of poor employment practices that were published by the Norwegian weekly Dagbladet. The company says it will defend itself against the allegations and trust that "the truth will prevail". The company told local media that it totally rejected the claims, which it described as unfounded and distorted and warned that it will act swiftly against those who question its integrity, work and honour.
"Not only do the false accusations question our internal procedures, our executives and supervisors, but they also cast aspersions on the certification agencies and government authorities who endorse our activity. "They question our country and we will not accept that," says a statement signed by Francisco Puga, general manager of Salmones Mainstream. "Our doors are open to whoever wants to come and see for them the reality of Salmones Mainstream." The statement says the company has always respected this country's employment, environment, production and hygiene regulations as well as the demanding markets that import its products. The Fisheries undersecretary, Felipe Sandoval, expressed his concern over the accusations and said one way or another they "damage the industry's image" because any response "always has less impact than the original accusation". Quoted by Aqua Noticias, Sandoval said: "Everybody knows Chile's employment laws and if someone believes they break any international rules, they should report it to the appropriate authority." Salmones Mainstream S.A. is a subsidiary of the Norwegian Cermaq group and has been operating in Chile since 1985. It employs 1,200 people in Region X and belongs to the Salmon Industry Association. The company is an active participant in the sector's Clean Production Agreement, as well as in training and management system programmes promoted by the government to improve the environmental conditions of salmon farming. (FIS/MP).-

Brazil targets tripling fishery exports

Brazilian government development plans could triple fishery exports, which currently earn USD 130 million a year, according to Brazilian Fisheries Secretary José Fritsch. The statement was made during a TV Câmara debate, in which he was joined by MPs Marcondes Gadelha (PB) and Selma Schons (PR), and the former director of the Fisheries Administration (Sudepe) Ubirajara Timm Mr. Fritsch said the government's latest measures could result in 35% growth for the industry. He explained that his department was working hard to facilitate the passage of the Fishing Code, which has already been in Congress for eight years. The Brazilian government has invested USD 469 million in the fisheries and aquaculture development plan, including 240 million USD invested in the Northeast alone. According to Mr. Fritsch, unlike previous administrations, his department has carried out an integrated policy involving all industry bodies. He said the federal government now had "the appropriate structure to integrate the policies of state governments, non-governmental organisations, universities, researchers, cooperatives, companies, coastal fishermen and the export sector". Former Fisheries Director Ubirajara Timm echoed Fritsch's optimism and said this was the first time the country's fishing industry had experienced such a tremendous thrust "because decisions were being taken from the very beginning of this administration". (FIS/MP)

EC aid finally approved

The Scottish Executive's transitional aid package for the fishing industry, worth GBP 10 million, has finally received European Commission approval. The package is available under the rules of the Community's state aid. However, a spokesperson for the Scottish Executive said that they while they were pleased with the recent development they were still awaiting formal notification of the package to ensure that there are no conditions or caveats linked to approval of the aid. Once notification has been received, and assuming that it is unconditional, steps will be taken to announce the outcome of decommissioning bids, and the implementation of transitional aid arrangements will then proceed as soon as possible. The chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, Hamish Morrison, told Fishing Monthly that he was deeply disappointed with the length of time it had taken for approval to be granted, especially as the Commission, and in particular the Commissioner, had committed to fast tracking and assisting the industry as far as possible in the wake of last December's disastrous fisheries deal. Mr Morrison says that he is convinced that the blame for the delay lies with the Commission. "It is the first time in my experience that transitional aid has been mooted to ease the impact of conservation measures, but what should have been a positive development and commitment, has been turned into a bureaucratic piece of bumbledum". (FIS/MP).-

Fisheries 'must be' withdrawn from Euro Constitution

Scottish National Party Euro MP, Neil MacCormick has called for the Inter-Governmental Conference considering the draft European Constitution to reject a "detrimental" clause entrenching fisheries policy in the new Constitution. The call builds on a UK Parliamentary bill tabled by Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell that Britain should pull out of the Common Fisheries Policy. The bill has harnessed growing political and industry backing since it won a second reading in Parliament last month. Speaking from Strasbourg, Professor MacCormick said: "The Inter Governmental Conference gives a last chance to rectify a serious deficiency in the existing text of the draft constitution. "The fisheries policy got barely a mention in the old treaty and is still handled very much outside it. Yet the clause concerning marine biological resources conservation is suddenly turned into an exclusive competence in the new constitution. This amounts to entrenching in a constitution, provisions which should be subject to the ordinary process of legal amendment from time to time. Professor MacCormick added that while some appeared to like the existing structure of the Common Fisheries Policy, from a Scottish point of view it had been a "disaster". "We do not want to use the occasion of the constitution itself to write a different policy, but we insist that the possibility of writing a different policy shouldn't be precluded by the constitution," he said. (FIS/MP).-