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Fisheries News.

Headlines:
Toothfish poaching top of CCAMLR meeting agenda; Spain remains in first position as Argentine fish buyer; Fisheries protocol with Cape Verde extended; Korean businessmen express their interest in Vigo; 'World Pelagics' conference launches 'Fish Africa 2003'; Farmed salmon escape causes chaos in the X Region; EU overexploits African waters, says WWF;ICES hake ban could moor Galician thirty vessels;

Toothfish poaching top of CCAMLR meeting agenda.

The poaching of Patagonian toothfish is expected to be a priority topic at the meeting of the 20-member Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which began on 27 October in Tasmania. The parliamentary secretary for the environment, Sharman Stone, said that Australia would be pushing for an agreement to implement a centralised vessel monitoring system in Antarctic waters. The system will cost less than AUD 1 million (USD 700,000) implement. The Government remains confident that they will achieve the international measures needed to ease the problem of illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean, Dr Stone added. "We have two weeks of very good discussion time and indications are that everybody understands the problems only too well," said Dr Stone. "We have high hopes that in two weeks' time when CCAMLR packs up its bags for another year we'll be making some very good announcements," she said. Australia has warmly welcomed Indonesia's decision to participate in the conference, especially as it is claimed much of the spoils of poaching end up in Indonesian ports, reports Radio Australia. "It is significant that Indonesia, being a neighbour to the Antarctic and to the Southern Ocean, is now participating as a member of CCAMLR," said Dr Stone. Dr Stone believes that the country's participation means that their authorities would probably take more care when checking the necessary catch documentation when fish are offloaded in Indonesian ports. Australia, which has a large Antarctic territory, is determined to stop illegal fishing by making life as difficult as possible for poachers. "The Australian government is determined to ensure toothfish and other species survival, but we cannot achieve this alone." "Illegal fishing is particularly frustrating for those countries who insist their nationals take a responsible approach to sustain fish stocks through catch limits in the Southern Ocean." The meeting comes soon after a high profile 21-day chase across the southern Atlantic, after a Uruguayan-flagged vessel, the Viarsa I, was spotted allegedly fishing illegally for toothfish in Australian territorial waters. The boat was finally captured and brought to Australia, where its crew is facing criminal charges. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources came into force in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System, in pursuance of the provisions of Article IX of the Treaty. Each Member of the Commission is involved in fishing and/or scientific research in the Southern Ocean. These activities are coordinated and regulated by the Commission and Scientific Committee to fulfil Members' obligations under the Convention. CCAMLR is based in Hobart, Tasmania, which is where it is holding its Annual Meeting (XXII) from 27 October to 7 November.

Spain remains in first position as Argentine fish buyer.

Between January and September of this year, Argentina exported 54,128 tonnes of fish to Spain, making it the main buyer of this type of product, according to sources from the National Health and Food Quality Service (Senasa). This volume represents 18 per cent of all certified sea and fresh water fish exports which totaled 250,100 tonnes during the first nine months of this year, at a value of USD 324.1 million. According to information released by Senasa's Department of Foreign Trade, these figures show an increase of 29 per cent in volume and 24 per cent in value from the same period last year. Brazil is the second highest importer of Argentine fish, with 28,417 tonnes. Germany is third, with 26,342 tonnes; the US is fourth, with 16,684 tonnes; Italy is fifth, with 14,416 tonnes; Colombia is sixth, with 13,289 tonnes; and Holland is seventh, with 12,907 tonnes. Other destinations for Argentine fish exports were: Japan, with 9,018 tonnes, Poland, with 8,064 tonnes; China, with 8,008 tonnes; Uruguay, with 7,675 tonnes; Israel, with 6,952 tonnes; and France, with 6,309 tonnes. South Pacific hake was the most popular species for export, with levels reaching 135,343 tonnes. Shad was second, with 21,020 tonnes; hoki, third, with 18,098 tonnes, meagre, fourth, with 9,780 tonnes, Argentine anchovy, fifth, with 7,133 tonnes, and pollack sixth, with 5,745 tonnes

Fisheries protocol with Cape Verde extended.

The European Commission is extending its fisheries protocol with Cape Verde by one year. It will now expire on 30 June 2005, instead of the scheduled end date of 30 June 2004. The Republic of Cape Verde consists of nine inhabited and several uninhabited volcanic islands about 450 km off the western coast of Africa. The basic conditions of the protocol are to remain, but a number of innovations have been agreed. These will include measures to strengthen control activities and a joint study on the fisheries sector will be undertaken, in an effort to prepare for negotiations for the next protocol. Tuna has been the main fishery under the protocol, but some potential has been seen in demersal species, which will be explored. Fishing possibilities of the protocol for tuna fisheries include 62 surface long-liners, 37 seiners and 18 pole-and-line vessels. Possibilities for demersal species include bottom long-liners, on the basis of 630 Gross Registered Tonnes per month averaged over a year. The financial contribution amounts to EUR 680,000 a year. Of this total, 42 per cent (EUR 280,000) is for targeted measures such as fisheries research control and surveillance of fisheries activities programmes and support for quality and control of fish products. Ship owners' financial contributions include EUR 2,750 for tuna seiners, EUR 2,000 for surface longliners, EUR 400 for pole-and-line vessels and EUR 168 for bottom-liners. The EU and Cape Verde have agreed to launch a joint, wide-ranging study on a number of aspects in the fisheries sector at the beginning of next year. The elements from this study will help them to negotiate the next protocol according to the principles of the partnership agreements. To strengthen the monitoring of fisheries activities in the waters of Cape Verde, the two parties have agreed on the introduction of the satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS) towards the end of 2004, following the result a joint feasibility study. Fish and shellfish are plentiful on the islands, and small quantities are exported. Cape Verde has cold storage and freezing facilities and fish processing plants in Mindelo, Praia, and on Sal. Fishing, along with agriculture, contributes around 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Vessels operating under this protocol come from Spain, France and Portugal. In a separate development, the Commission decided on 15 October 2003 to add Cape Verde to the list of countries which can export fisheries products to member states under the EU public health rules for these products.

Korean businessmen express their interest in Vigo.

Last Monday (27 October), 37 businessmen and technicians from various Korean institutions visited the fish markets, the vessel owners' cooperative and two hatcheries in the port of O Berbes, in Vigo, with the aim to establish commercial ties in the fishing sector. According to a Ministry of Promotion press release, the Korean delegation has expressed great interest in operating in Vigo, which would enable them to establish commercial relationships with the rest of Europe. They also intend to increase exports to their country from this port. The Korean executives learnt about the fish species that are commercialized in the market, and the health controls applied to the fish before they can be sold. In 2002, shipping volumes between Vigo and Korea reached 62,848 tonnes, of which 49,108 tonnes corresponded to exports, and the rest to imports. It is these high levels that lead to Asian interest in this port, which plays a fundamental role in the international fishing sector. The delegates hope that Spain will become the "entrance to the Asian market" for European fish, states the press release. The Korean delegation, that represented the Korean Association of Fishing Ports, fishing companies and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, ended its tour with a meeting with the Port of Vigo board, and representatives from the local Vessel Owners' Cooperative.

'World Pelagics' conference launches 'Fish Africa 2003'

A major international conference on the fishing industry begins today in Cape Town, and precedes the 'Fish Africa 2003' exhibition. The conference, 'World Pelagics', opens today at the new Arabella Sheraton over a two day period, with many of the leading figures in the industry expected to attend. The event will host 20 experts who will speak on a range of pertinent topics for the pelagic industry that will incorporate various countries with substantial pelagic fisheries, such as South Africa, Namibia, Chile, Peru, Morocco, West Africa, Norway, the North Atlantic and Brazil. A discussion of markets will include a presentation on the opportunities in the Chinese and US markets, among others, reports Cape Business News. Speakers will include Horst Kleinschmidt, head of the South Africa's Marine and Coastal Management unit, and Iain MacSween, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Organisation. The 'World Pelagics' conference comes to an end tomorrow evening and acts as a curtain raiser for the fourth exhibition in the 'Fish Africa' series. Delegates have arrived from countries as diverse as Iceland, Russia, the USA, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. Meanwhile, 'Fish Africa' opens at 10 am on Wednesday 29 October at the new Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), and will run for three days. The last staging of a Fish Africa exhibition was held in 1999, when it attracted visitors from 38 countries. The exhibition will showcase a wide range of modern catching and processing equipment from 136 South African and international suppliers, which will include netting and floats, to engines, inshore vessels, sophisticated marine and fish finding electronics and machinery designed to permit efficient and profitable processing of the catch. The exhibition is jointly organised by Exhibition Management Services of Johannesburg and Heighway Events from the United Kingdom, a company that specialises in trade shows for commercial fisheries, aquaculture and seafood. Mike Purves, a spokesperson for Heighway Events, said: "Our aim is to bring together buyers and sellers and encourage the take-up of efficient technologies in areas where there is a market. Southern Africa's fisheries are well-managed, the new long-term quota regime is encouraging investment and many new companies are coming into the industry. It is this positive climate which has drawn suppliers from nineteen countries to exhibit at 'Fish Africa' this year." 'World Pelagics Conference 2003' is restricted to registered delegates while 'Fish Africa 2003' is open, free of charge, to fishing professionals who can register at the door on arrival.

Farmed salmon escape causes chaos in the X Region.

The escape of 130,000 salmon from a farming raft in Cochamó - an isolated town in the X Region - has created a huge health, commercial and policing problem. The fish - with an average weight of around 3.5 kg - are now wondering freely around the Reloncaví estuary. Their escape is believed to have been caused by an opening measuring several metres in the cage mesh. The company that owns the farm has taken the situation to the Court of Justice, and estimates its losses to be over USD 1.5 million. Many salmon have run aground on the coast and have been swept away by the tides in a state of decomposition. The rest are causing damages to local fishermen as they are filling their nets, but cannot be commercialized as current law states that they must be re-caught by their owners. The artisanal fishermen have stated that as retrieval never takes place, they should be authorized to catch the salmon. "Although we are pushing for the company to retrieve the salmon, if they do not, fishermen should not be punished for illegal fishery," said Manuel Carvajal, Finance secretary for the Regional Federation of Artisanal Fishermen (Ferepa), in Los Lagos. Until now, only one fishermen has been arrested and another three artisanal fishermen have been interrogated for having been in the area when the incident occurred. Carbajal, who is also the artisanal union's national advisor, insisted that, "it is impossible that the hole was caused by strangers to the company, as it is very difficult not to have noticed what was going on with the surveillance and controls that they have. Strangely enough, the company is insured, but did not inform the inspectors soon enough, this causes even more damage as it caused the Police and the Navy to go after the fishermen trying to catch the salmon." Police officers and Navy personnel are carrying out operations to prevent the salmon from leaving Cochamó, and have seized 5 tonnes so far which they believe have come from the farm.

EU overexploits African waters, says WWF.

A leading environmentalist group has accused the European Union of not doing enough to stop its fishermen from plundering the waters of developing states, especially African countries. EU fisheries ministers are currently reviewing some of their fishing agreements with mostly African coastal states. These fishing rights have become essential for the EU following the collapse of fisheries resources in European waters. Under these Fisheries Agreements, the EU pays the country a sum of money, part of which is intended to help the country develop its fishing industry and fisheries management, in return for which that country allows EU boats to fish in their waters. The boat owners pay a licence fee, but the EU payments constitute a significant subsidy. The EU has agreements with approximately twenty countries for which it pays ?financial compensation', mostly in Africa. The four current agreements reviewed in the report cost the EU over EUR 100 million per year and allow some 500 EU boats to fish in the waters of the four African countries. The World Wide Fund (WWF), however, has been a long-standing critic of such agreements and have accused the European states of overexploitation of resources of other countries. The organisation does not have much faith that the review will be of any substance, and believes that there will be no major effort to stop illegal fishing. "Too many boats chasing too few fish, there's not enough fish left in European waters so our boats go to the waters of developing states to overfish there," said Espen Nordberg, fisheries policy officer at WWF Denmark. The Commission has argued in the past that the fishing agreements can be beneficial to developing nations as it acts as a protective measure, in that it prevents coastal states from selling off their resources to the highest bidder and it also ensures some level of monitoring of vital fish stocks, reports Reuters. But the WWF produced a paper earlier in the year, entitled 'Is the EU moving towards sustainable development?', which revealed that, despite European Commission plans to move from access agreements to ?partnership agreements' in fisheries, current deals are far from being environmentally, socially, or economically sustainable. The organisation has pointed out certain flaws in the fisheries agreements, which include the depletion of fish stocks, the lack of limits on the amount of fish that can be caught, weak enforcement of catch limits and other rules, unfair pricing paid by the EU for the fish it takes, and the inconsistency between the EU Fisheries Policy and EU Development Policy. The European Commission launched a policy paper in 2002 that warned that deals with developing nations should be improved to offer more protection for their fishing grounds.

Queenstown hosts international deep-sea conference.

An international conference on the management and environment of the deep seas is to be held in Queenstown from 1-5 December 2003. The conference will focus on the habitat of the ocean, and ocean slope from the continental shelf, to assess the situation now and the best course for future management. Through debate and discussion it will examine key issues facing these deep-sea fisheries and cover their future needs in science, conservation, and governance and management. The conference, which runs for five days will be opened by the New Zealand Minister of Fisheries Pete Hodgson. He will be followed by a number of speakers who will give presentations on issues facing the governance and management of deep-sea fisheries. The conference will then consider the whole question of deep-sea fisheries under eight themes ? Environment, ecosystem biology, habitat and diversity and oceanography ? Population biology and resource assessment ? Harvesting and conservation strategies for resource management ? Technological requirements ? Monitoring compliance and control ? Review of existing policies and instruments ? Management and governance ? The way ahead "The overall aim of the conference is to provide a basis of management for these important fisheries. We hope to come up with some ideas as to where we will go from here," says conference director Ms Eidre Sharp-Brewer. So far representatives from 28 countries have signed up to attend the conference. "These represent a good cross section of the industry and include people from the fishing industry, research organisations supporting them, various governments and semi-government organisations." The organisers say that they have had a good response to the call for papers and that these should form the basis for some lively discussion. The discussion on the first seven themes will provide the basis for the findings of the conference that will be compiled into a report under The Way Ahead. This will be presented to COFI, the Committee of Fisheries, at the FAO. This international organisation is one of those responsible for the conference. It is also a joint initiative of New Zealand's Ministry of Fisheries and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests. The major conference will be preceded by several smaller conferences on specific topics in Dunedin the week before. The topics covered by these are ? Conservation and Management of Deepwater Elasmobranchs ? Management of deepwater Artisanal and small scale fisheries ? Marine Bioprospection ? Assessment and Management of Deepwater species. The findings of these conferences will become part of the debate at the main conference These pre-conference meetings will be held at the University of Otago and also at the Portobello research facility on the harbour from 27-29 November and there will be a bus from Dunedin to Queenstown on 1 December Further information is available on the website: www.deepsea.govt.nz, or by contacting eidre.sharp-brewer@fish.govt.nz

ICES hake ban could moor Galician thirty vessels

Galician Vessel-owners are nervously awaiting a possible announcement from the European Commission (EC) of a zero hake quota in Spanish and Portuguese waters following a recommendation issued some days ago from scientists from the International Council of Sea Exploration (ICES). The future of 30 Galician bottom set gill-netters dedicated to hake fishery could be at stake, while the measure would also have an affect on 117 trawlers that extract hake as a by-catch of horse mackerel and blue whiting. The ICES report proposes a complete ban on cod fishery in the most important fishing areas, as well as zero catches and recovery plans for other species such as blue whiting, capelin and plaice. In the case of hake, the report determines that the levels of southern hake stock (from the Bay of Biscay to the Portuguese coast) are too low. The ICES experts estimate that southern hake stocks are around 16,000 tonnes - less than half the recommended biomass needed to ensure stock recovery (35,000 tonnes). This is why they have recommended a zero TAC for next year. The Spanish vessel owners are hoping that the EC will compare this report to something less drastic when establishing the TAC for 2004, such as the reports issued by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries. In a statement to La Voz de Galicia, Mercedes Rodriguez, manager of the Lugo OPP-7, said that the suspension of hake fishery in Spanish and Portuguese waters will cause similar problems to those caused when cod fishery was suspended. She argued that when the total closure of cod fishery occurred in the Irish, Scottish and North Sea waters, it was the EC itself that admitted that the measure would have serious socio-economic consequences and therefore chose to increase the quota to the minimum catches possible, without setting a complete ban.

Source: FIS.-

Categories: Falkland Islands.

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