MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News.

Hedlines: Anchovy fishing ban in Peru; Chilean Fishery exports up 18.5%; Scottish Federation ratifies CFP position; Australian fishing industry threatened by marine pests; Argentine hake management advisory body; Chile debates long term fishing law amendments;

The Peruvian Ministry of Production announced that anchovy and long-nose anchovy fishing is banned starting July 21in the area from the country's northern maritime border to Arequipa (parallel 16º 00' S). The ban had been expected, as the 3 million tonne quota set by the government for the April-July season has almost been reached. However the resolution governing the ban says that processing plants within the ban area will be allowed to process anchovy catches from the large-scale fleet until 24:00 hours on 21 July. From then onwards, processing will be forbidden, except in plants that are licensed for manufacturing human consumption products. These plants will be supplies by coastal vessels with valid fishing permits and using purse seine nets with ½ inch minimum size mesh. The ban stresses that anchovy as of July 21 can only be used manufacturing human consumption products. (FIS/MP).-

Scottish Federation ratifies CFP position

The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has spoken out to clear up the "misunderstandings and misrepresentations" surrounding its backing for the withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Federation chief executive, Hamish Morrison, said that no practical opportunity had yet arisen for the government to withdraw, reports fishupdate.com. "Due to continued misunderstandings and, alas, some deliberate misrepresentations of its position, the Federation reaffirms its existing policy of pursuing every realistic opportunity to extract the United Kingdom from the CFP." "In the meantime the Federation will continue to promote the interests of the Scottish Fishing Fleet through all official institutions and channels." Despite the fact that the federation has seen no practical chance to withdraw at the moment, he does feel that there is a realistic campaign that can be made around the provisions of the draft EU constitution where it gives, for example, some allowance for national governments to devolve or delegate some responsibility to sub-national administrations, like the Scottish Executive. "But I have not seen any realistic opportunity to extract the UK from the CFP; and it is quite wrong to give people the impression that something can be done which turns out not to have been realistic." By arguing this case others have misjudged their intentions, says Mr Morrison, believing that the Federation is against pulling out of the CFP, when in fact the reverse is true. "People should not confuse pragmatism with opposition." Meanwhile, many fishing boat skippers in the northeast are waiting for an announcement from the Scottish Executive, and will soon know if their boats have been chosen for decommissioning, reports thisisnorthscotland. The Scottish Executive is expected to announce today which boats have been picked to benefit from the GBP 40 million decommissioning plan. Sixty-nine boat owners have already been told of their entitlement and have until 31 October to decommission their vessels and claim grants ranging between GBP 170,000 to more than GBP 1 million. Boats that tend to record high landings have been targeted. Chairman of the Fisherman's Association Ltd, Tom Hay, said: "Anybody that looks at the present decommissioning scheme and sees them taking out the top boats in the fleet can see this is nothing to do with conservation. "It's to do with the substantial reduction of the fleet to allow the rest of the member states in the EU access to British waters." Many owners already know if their boat has been picked, but are awaiting official confirmation. Another scheme offering more transitional aid for fishermen has also just been approved last week by the EC. The deadline for applying for a share of the GBP 10 million that has been made available is the end of the month, but the Executive said that this could be extended if enough people are interested. (FIS/MP).

Chilean Fishery exports up

Chile's fishery exports earned USD 918 million in the first five months of the year, showing an 18.5% increase on the same period last year. According to the National Fisheries Association (Sonapesca), frozen fish was the highest earner with USD 324 million - a 30% increase on last year - and salmon accounted for 93% of all frozen fish sales. This growth was mainly due to the 65.7% increase in price, which reached an average of USD 2.7/tonne. However export volume dropped 21.6%. Total canned products sales were up 28% in value, at more than USD 54 million, but were down 1.5% in volume. Exports of canned horse mackerel and shellfish, which represent 88% of canned seafood sales, were up 33.3% in value and 13.4% in volume.In contrast, fishmeal sales revenue was down 10.3% during the first five months mainly due to a 7.8% drop in export volume. The price dropped only 2.7% to an average of USD 600/tonne. Sonapesca general manager, Cristián Jara, says the increase in revenue is due to a greater emphasis on value added products, which he attributes to the country's "short term" fishing law. This legislation has brought more stability and security to the sector by allowing companies to organise their harvesting activities and invest in improving product quality, he said Chilean Security Association (ACHS) statistics show that fishing was the second most dynamic sector in terms of job creation in May this year, with an 11.5% increase on May 2002. (FIS/MP).-

Australian fishing industry threatened by marine pests

The Australian fishing industry is facing a potential threat from dozens of marine pests according to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). More than 30 problem species have been identified by CSIRO that appear to be on their way towards Australian waters. Local scientists are working with US researchers to fight the threat, which they fear may be an ongoing battle, and they have put together a list of the most dangerous species, reports ABC News. Twelve marine pests have already been identified around the shores of Australia, but there are many more to come. The exotic species have the tendency to take over by killing off native species, thereby causing a threat to the environment and commercial fisheries. A potential 33 invaders have now been identified that scientists say could arrive in local waters at anytime, anywhere. The frontline of the invasion is moving, according to Dr Nic Bax from CSIRO Marine Research, and this is despite the work that has already been done to cope with pests being transported in ship ballast water. "Marine pests are becoming a larger and larger problem for Australia, simply because we're moving around the globe much more, people are coming across in recreational yachts bringing pests with them, people are buying more stuff, we're trading more with the rest of the world. Every time ships or vessels or oil rigs come in there's always the risk that they will bring a marine pest with them." "There is one species now, culerpa taxifolia, it's sometimes known as killer algae. It's a lovely organism for aquariums because fish don't eat it and it survives anywhere, but you can now order it over the internet and if it gets into the marine environment, of course, not many fish eat it and it grows everywhere, and it becomes an invasive species." "It's just an example of how much our new trading patterns are really changing the degree to which marine pests can be moved around the world." When the North Pacific Sea Star established itself in Hobart's Derwent River, it was ten years before anyone took notice, and by then it was too late. Researchers want to be ready for the next invasion. Cooperation is vital, says Dr Greg Ruiz from the US Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre, if pests are to be kept under control. "Right now I think we have a real paucity of information. There's a great deal of uncertainty about what's coming, who the next invasions are, and really what attributes are driving those invasion patterns." "And so there's really a huge amount of interest on a global scale from the international community, really trying to understand what species are going to be the bad actors and how are they moving around the world. We are very much trying to develop a system that allows us to identify and track those organisms." But while global cooperation on the list of most or least wanted pests is critical, CSIRO warns that it is just as critical for individuals to keep an eye on the waterline. "A lot of the battle against marine pests, especially once they're in the country, will be up to individuals, just understanding the dangers which do threaten the marine environment and what role each individual can have to play in protecting the marine environment," Dr Bax said. (FIS/MP).-

Argentine hake management advisory body

The Argentine Fisheries Department, the Federal Fishing Council (CFP) and fishing companies agreed last week to create a national hake management advisory committee. The aim is to provide a forum for debate over hake management policy issues and for decisions not to depend on one official body alone. This is something the sector has long been calling for, Oscar Fortunato, head of the Argentine Fishing Companies Council (CEPA) told La Capital. He said the new advisory body would have a similar profile to the existing shrimp and Patagonian toothfish committees. The new hake fishery forum resulted from a meeting convened on 10 July in Buenos Aires by Fisheries Undersecretary Gerardo Nieto and attended by industry stakeholders. Nieto hoped to make progress in defining the official policy for Argentine hake management during the second half of the year, and to discuss different aspects of the Federal Fishing Law. But during the debate, tensions were running high over a number of disagreements between Mar del Plata Vessel Owners Chamber - representing fresh fish vessels - and Patagonian reefer owners. It became clear that these traditionally conflicting sectors would not agree on their recommendations to the authorities. The only agreement reached was to schedule another meeting for the following week in which the different sides would formally present their proposals for discussion and evaluation in future sessions. Issues debated last week, and which will continue to be discussed, include: ? Species that need quotas - priorities, precedence and number of species; ? Fishing ground zoning; ? Types of fleets, ? Assignment of quotas; ? Maximum quota concentration per species; ? Dealing with unrestricted fishing permits under Federal Fishing Law; and ? Fisheries management methods for different distribution areas

Chile debates long term fishing law amendments

The Chilean government is proposing several amendments to the "long term" fishing law, which is currently under debate in Congress seeking to create a regulatory framework for sector development. The amendments include the dissolution of the Areas fishing councils and radical changes to sanctions for infringing regulations, informs El Mercurio. There are currently five area fishing councils that are empowered to take certain decisions jointly with the National Fisheries Council, such as determining fully exploited areas and suspending access for new entrants to a given fishery. Although these councils are included in the existing legislation, their operational level is so low that in practice many of them do not operate at all. This is why the government proposes closing them down and transferring their duties to the National Council and the regional councils, which comprise representatives of the Executive, the industrial and coastal sectors, fishermen and local universities. Another important amendment concerns sanctions for fishing in banned areas or exceeding maximum quotas. The government proposes replacing the current system of making deductions from the catch quota with cash fines that would be set according to the commercial value of the species involved in the offence. The proposed amendments announced by the Chilean Fisheries Department Undersecretary, Felipe Sandoval, were generally welcomed by the industrial sector. According to Sonapesca general manager Cristián Jara, the government proposals provide the necessary regulatory framework to forge ahead with the sector's modernisation process, which began in December 2002 with the passing of the "short term" law. The short term law set maximum catch quotas per vessel owner, based on historical catch records, and distributed the total catch quotas between the artisanal and industrial sectors. The new law was seen as a major step forwards for effective management within the fishing industry. On the downside though, it led to the loss of 1,500 jobs. In a bid to mitigate the impact, Economy minister Jorge Rodríguez Grossi launched a program to provide training schemes to help the unemployed get back into work. Union representatives backed the initiative on behalf crewmembers that lost their jobs in Coronel and Talcahuano. The CLP 4,000 million (approx. six million US dollars) programme will be funded from industrial fishing licence fees. (FIS/MP).-

Santa Catarina oyster production booming

While other sectors are withering away, oyster farming is booming in Santa Catarina state in Southern Brazil. With the creation of more than 2,000 direct jobs to its credit, the sector is aiming to produce 1.7 million dozen oysters this year, which means a 7% increase on last year's 1.6 million dozen oysters. According to oceanographer João Guzenski, of the Agricultural Research and Rural Development Company (Epagri), Santa Catarina is responsible for 80% of Brazil's total production. This, together with the excellent product quality, has helped oysters to gain a bigger share of the domestic market attracting local distributors. There are currently three companies that have the necessary Federal Inspection Service (SIF) certification to sell food products throughout Brazil, said Guzenski. According to Epagri data, these three companies together sell around 10,000-15,000 dozen each month, mainly to Río de Janeiro and São Paulo. Despite the potential for further growth, the sector is also facing some difficulties: the government has suspended the opening of new farming areas and producers complain that there are no specific credit lines that allow them to open new farming beds. More than 1,000 producers are dedicated to oysters and mussels farming in Santa Catarina, in a 900 hectare area divided in 12 aquaculture parks. According to official statistics, this activity generates 2,100 direct jobs and almost 6,300 indirect ones. (FIS/MP).-