MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News.

Headlines:
Spanish company expands in Ushuaia; Claims of “irregularities” in Argentine Fisheries; Spanish long-liners looking towards Brazil; Fisheries subsidies in WTO debate; Talks on EU-Chile trade agreement include fisheries; Anchovy becomes a contentious issue in the River Plate; Momentum builds in global talks on fisheries; EU new members fishing industry will receive 272 million Euros.

Spanish company expands in Ushuaia

Spanish fishing company Pescapuerta has plans to expand in southern Argentina operations by investing 12 million US dollars, according to reports in the Buenos Aires press. The expansion project includes the purchase of two fishing vessels and the building of a fish processing plant in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. The 2 million US dollars factory will be Pescapuerta's second plant. The company already owns a factory in Puerto Madryn, Chubut province where the company first set up operations in Argentina in 1996 with an initial investment of 7 million US dollars. Pescapuerta owns three freezer vessels and two others exclusively for "jumbo" king prawn operating in the South Atlantic. The two new deep-sea vessels, costing 10 million US dollars will be located in Ushuaia indicated Pescapuerta vice president Buenaventura Lafuente Matos. Apparently the company's decision is based on a long term assessment of the expanding Argentine fishing industry which in the first quarter of 2004 increased exports by 17% compared to the same period in 2003. Pescapuerta exports 98% of its take of hake, king prawns and squid and Mr. Lafuente Matos said the company was also looking "into new short-term investment opportunities".

Claims of "irregularities" in Argentine Fisheries

A high official from the Argentine National Fisheries Directorate (DNP) who was recently sacked from office claims the "government is the worst predator of the ocean's resources. According to the Argentine press Nelida Videla Sanchez was fired for having detected internal "irregularities" in DNP's procedures. Last March 31, Argentine Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Miguel Campos signed Resolution 407/04 removing Ms. Videla Sanchez and replacing her with Carlo Roberto Ospital, from the Chief Cabinet Office. "Opportunity, merit and convenience", were alleged in her dismissal. But internal memos between DNP, the Agriculture and Economy Ministries, leaked to the Argentine press indicate other possible causes involving "internal procedures and discretionary actions". Apparently until last September the Argentine Coast Guard reported directly to Ms. Videla Sanchez Auditing Office every vessel's position detected operating in the zone where hake fishing is banned. However "by verbal command to the Naval Prefecture from Under-secretary (Gerardo) Nieto, these communiqués ceased, and were subsequently reported directly to him". The incident is believed to have connections with the compliance of vessels ordered to return to port, as of last October. On another occasion, which coincided with her dismissal, Ms. Videla Sanchez alleges that fishing licences were granted to two foreign vessels. She returned the dossiers to Under-secretary Nieto, accompanied by a note which stated, "it is surprising that the Council does not grant permission to Argentine flagged vessels with active licenses for deep sea fishing as needed. It seems foreign vessels do". Ms. Videla Sanchez also claims "irregularities" in fishing licence transfers from the "Santa Eugenia" to the "Itxas Lur", "Stella Maris I", and "Don Cayetano", and reported the "loss of dossiers" with sensitive information. Interviewed by La Nacion, the former official emphasized that her "only interest lies in ending favouritism in Argentine fishery exploitation", highlighting that "the Argentine government is the main marine resources predator because it simply does not control national fishing interests". Argentina with a long tradition of livestock production actually exports more fishery produce than beef. According to official data fishery exports average annually 870 million US dollars, 110 million US dollars more than beef. (FIS/MP).-

Spanish long-liners looking towards Brazil

The Spanish Federation of Fishery Organizations (FEOPE) is attempting to reverse a decision banning the long-line fleet from carrying out necessary logistical landings and maintenance in Brazilian ports. Members of the organisation met in Madrid with the Brazilian Special Secretariat of Aquaculture and Fishery (SEAP). At the meeting FEOPE was represented by President, Juan Manuel Liria, and Secretary General Javier Garat and SEAP by Romeu Porto. The Spanish long-liner fleet is interested in calling at the Brazilian ports of Cabedelo and Vitoria for transhipping, stockpiling and necessary repairs. "The access to these ports is not only beneficial to the vessels but also would offer favourable incentives for economic growth in these areas, generating activity and employment." This is a matter of great significance for the Spanish fleet since otherwise they will be forced to head to Montevideo, Uruguay or across to Africa with all the extra costs involved and loss of fishing days at sea. However Mr. Porto replied that Spanish fishing vessels access to Brazilian ports is a "complicated issue", and suggested the naming of a joint committee. Mr. Porto also revealed that Brazil is currently involved in the development of its own high seas fleet, as well as updating port infrastructure and promoting aquaculture. But Mr. Porto also said Brazil is interested in scientific assistance and support in test cruises to explore new deep-sea species. FEOPE expressed willingness in supporting Brazil's fishery industry but demanded guarantees for companies operating in Brazilian territory, "whether as joint ventures, or in any other fisheries activities by making fiscal and customs legislation more flexible". The Spanish delegation said it was time to begin negotiations for a EU-Brazil fisheries agreement. (FIS/MP).

Fisheries subsidies in WTO debate

New Zealand has made a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to prohibit an estimated 20 billion US dollars in fisheries subsidies paid out worldwide, Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said this week. He said world fisheries were in crisis and subsidies were a part of the problem. "Key stocks are being run down, some to the point of collapse; large parts of the industry are suffering. This is having acute social as well as commercial impact", stressed Minister Sutton. At the WTO in Geneva, the proposed prohibition was immediately criticised by the European Union (EU) as "brutal and over the top," a trade source said. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also opposed the move. The proposal came to "extreme conclusions" and could lead to the elimination of "good subsidies" aimed at preserving some fish species, the Japanese delegate in the meeting said. Argentina, Australia, Chile, Iceland, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, and Thailand voiced support for the proposals, but many Asian countries also called for special treatment for developing countries. The United States said the proposal contained "simple and enforceable rules" and urged countries to "take advantage of this negotiation to make trade liberalization beneficial to the environment." The controversial and complex issue has been on the WTO agenda since its Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in 2001. But countries have been struggling to find a way of controlling fisheries subsidies at a global level, despite growing concern about over-fishing and some regional restrictions on support for fishing fleets. Sutton said, New Zealand, which has the fifth largest fishery industry, called for a broad prohibition on commercial subsidies. New Zealand is arguing that a broad ban, along with a list of defined exceptions and transitional arrangements, will be more effective than a bottom-up negotiation on a list of prohibited subsidies. "If we are serious about addressing the problem of over-exploitation and serious about letting developing country fishers operate on a level playing field we need genuinely effective WTO rules in this sector," Sutton said. New Zealand had long been active on managing fisheries, with a management regime regarded as a model for the sector. "But a lasting solution requires reform of the economics of the fisheries sector. An industry for which government supports often represent a quarter of revenues or costs is clearly not sustainable," he said The EU wants to preserve subsidies aimed at preventing over-fishing, such as recently introduced decommissioning payments for boats and other support, aimed at shifting fishery away from endangered species, including cod. In recent days officials on both sides of the subsidy debate pointed out that the divide on fisheries support had diminished. WTO member states agreed at their 2001 conference in Doha, to "clarify" global trade rules on fisheries subsidies, primarily to help developing countries. (FIS/MP).

Talks on EU-Chile trade agreement include fisheries

The upcoming entry of ten new Member States to the European Union will allow Chile to broaden the terms of its EU Association Agreement. The new situation, not contemplated when the accord with Chile was signed, could mean an increase in some free tariff quotas, the creation of others including in fisheries related products, reports Santiago's La Tercera quoting Chilean government sources. La Tercera also revealed that the Directorate of International Economic Relations, (DIRECON) from the Chilean Chancery has been involved, for several months, in negotiations with the EU to broaden the current agreement. Among other issues new quotas would be awarded as "compensation" for changes which the incorporation of the 10 new eastern European countries will have in bilateral trade, since the EU is Chile's main trading partner. Hake, a species which is targeted for tax relief by the agreement in seven years, would now receive "preferential access," according to DIRECON. This measure satisfies the sector's producers which have precisely been seeking the relaxation of restrictions on this resource. During bilateral talks which culminated with the signing of the Association Agreement in 2002, Chile did not yield to requests for access to its exclusive economic zone by EU fishing fleets. Chile also limited participation of foreign capital in local fishery enterprises. However these limitations led EU to limit tariff offers for the Chilean fishery sector which could be modified during the new round of talks, said Chilean sources quoted by La Tercera. (FIS/MP).-

Anchovy becomes a contentious issue in the River Plate

Uruguay's decision to allow the establishment of a company dedicated to anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) extraction for fishmeal production has caused strong opposition inside Argentine president Kirchner's administration and from fishing industry interests in the province of Buenos Aires. Concerned about the consequences of the investment in La Paloma, next to the Brazilian border, Buenos Aires province Fisheries Under-secretary Fisheries Oscar Fortunato officially protested to the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP). "Existing data and reports do not guarantee that significant and consistent anchovy catches will not affect the stability of the resource and moreover the stability of forty other species which feed from anchovy in the marine food chain", argued Mr. Fortunato. Since the seventies the province of Buenos Aires has rejected all proposals "to catch anchovy or any other marine species for making fishmeal". This criterion was implemented recently through provincial legislation, establishing the prohibition of this activity through Resolution SSAP No 9/04. Going a step further Marcelo Santos representative for the Implementation Authority of CFP proposed establishing "a general ban on catches for the purpose of using any species towards the fishmeal production industry (reduction), as a guideline for national fishery policy". The proposal was unanimously approved by the counsellors. Argentine representatives are expected to send their claim to the Bi-national Technical Commission for the Maritime Front shared by Argentina and Uruguay. (FIS/MP).

Momentum builds in global talks on fisheries

Long-winded talks on how to reform subsidies for fishing, which have been blamed for distorting markets and depleting global fish stocks, are starting to gain momentum, officials participating in a meeting of the World Trade Organization on the issue. "I think the debate has matured because it is no longer a question of whether but how international cooperation to reform fisheries subsidies should move forward," senior German Environment Ministry official Cornelia Quennet- Thielen said. Quennet-Thielen's comments to journalists echoed those of other environmental, trade and fisheries experts on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the United Nation's Environment Programme (UNEP). The issue largely pits rich countries against poor ones. Developing states fear that subsidies paid by wealthy countries to domestic fishing fleets are undermining the livelihoods of their own small-scale fishing communities and driving prices down on world markets to unaffordable levels. But the subsidies also raise strong environmental concerns, with growing evidence of depleted fish stocks, as well as a social dimension due to the dependence on the trade of an estimated 120 million-strong global fishing community. "While the problem is complex, it is time to build on the growing momentum for reform by restructuring subsidy programmes in a way that reduces incentives for over-exploiting the world's increasingly depleted fisheries," UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said. WTO Member States agreed at the ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, in 2001 to "clarify" global trade rules on fisheries subsidies, primarily to help developing countries. But the discussions became mired in the complexity of the cross-cutting issue and the dispute between rich and poor, observers said. "The climate of the discussion has improved. The polarisation that we saw after Doha when the discussion on this issue began, has been clearly reduced," Quennet-Thielen explained. A senior official at Philipinnes Agriculture Department, Segfredo Serrano, also praised progress in the debate here. "There is broad acceptance ... for identifying when subsidies are most likely going to be harmful," he said. About 80 billion US dollars worth of fish are caught every year, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Fisheries subsidies worldwide -- but mainly in industrialised countries -- amount to about USD 20 billion, UNEP officials said. Although regional groups, such as the European Union, are trying to reduce the size of fishing fleets to preserve declining fish stocks, coastal communities that depend on fisheries fear for their livelihoods. Developing countries were also at "a significant competitive disadvantage" because of huge long-distance factory vessels fishing off their coasts, often thousands of miles from home ports, Serrano warned. Global efforts were homing in on banning "bad" subsidies, which clearly encourage over-fishing or skew trade, experts said. They include support for buying new vessels, which creates new or more powerful fishing fleets, price support that artificially props up incomes and affects market prices, or subsidies and rebates on fuel. But there were warnings that action against subsidies was only one facet of what needed to be done to reverse over-fishing by major ocean fleets. "What it can do is to prevent the situation from getting worse," UNEP consultant Gareth Porter explained. (FIS/MP).

EU new members fishing industry will receive 272 million Euros

The ten new members of the European Union (EU) are to receive EUR 272 million in joint funding in a bid to boost their fishing industries. This funding, which will be paid to the new Member States over a two and a half year period, starting on 1 May, when these countries join the EU, will enable them to upgrade and restructure their fisheries and fish farming sectors, thus increasing production levels, reports Fishupdate. The payments will form part of the January 2000 to December 2006 budget for the EU Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG). The funding will be divided as follows: Poland will receive EUR 201.83 million; Latvia, EUR 24.33 million; Cyprus, EUR 3.41 million; The Czech Republic, EUR 7.25 million; Estonia, EUR 12.46 million; Hungary EUR 4.38 million; Lithuania, EUR 12.11 million; Malta, EUR 2.83 million; Slovakia, EUR 1.82 million; and Slovenia, EUR 1.78 million. According to the European Commission's Office in Scotland, which originally released the figures, the funding will be primarily directed towards projects such as fleet restructuring, port facilities modernisation, and the development of environmentally friendly aquaculture techniques. Funding will also be used to improve the quality and hygiene levels of processing methods in order to achieve a superior end product, as well as to increase market promotion and improve inland fisheries. (FIS/MP).