MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News

Headlines:
Hake research cruise in south Chile; Korean cooperation for Santa Cruz aquaculture industry; Chubut questions hake quota allocation.

Hake research cruise in south Chile

Chilean scientists will participate in a research campaign in the southern Regions X and XI to collect data on spawning hake stock. The scientific research vessel Abate Molina, from the Institute of Fisheries Promotion (IFOP) is scheduled to leave this week from Puerto Montt in the framework of the project "Evaluation on the spawning southern hake and hoki stocks in the Southern area". The six months project is funded by the Council of Fisheries Research with the equivalent of 114,000 US dollars. Project manager, Sergio Lillo, said the aim of the research is to determine the biomass and abundance of the resource besides its spatial and bathymetric distribution. Other data includes stock's size, age, and sexual maturity. The influence of any accompanying fauna which affect hake's distribution and feeding is another important issue in the research. Giant squid, plentiful along the Chilean coastline, is to be studied, as well as the influence of its presence on the distribution of stocks. The squid survey will last three weeks and should also help to improve hake management, said Mr. Lillo. (FIS/MP).-

Korean cooperation for Santa Cruz aquaculture industry.

Santa Cruz province in Argentine Patagonia are considering the future implementation of a cooperation project for the development of aquaculture activities with funding from South Korea. Following an official meeting between a Korean Fisheries and Maritime Affairs official, Undersecretary of Fisheries and Port Activities of Santa Cruz province, Liliana Scioli said that in a few days she would be holding further contacts with sentatives from the Korean government representatives to continue advancing in other aspects of the project, reported El Santacruceño, from Rio Gallegos. So far it has been agreed that South Korea would invest in the development of costly aquaculture infrastructure and marketing of local produce. Ms. Scioli explained that the Korean government's goal is to overcome limitations for the development of aquaculture by taking advantage of natural conditions of Santa Cruz with abundant fresh and sea water, essential for the industry. The South Korean aquaculture industry produces 1.4 million tons annually. Since Santa Cruz has neither an aquaculture development or qualified workers cooperation with South Korea should provide funds and technology for a future industry in the Patagonian province, argues Ms. Scioli. "This is a great challenge for Santa Cruz but a mollusk whose farming does not require too much technology and expertise" might serve as a starting point indicated Ms. Scioli. (FIS/MP).-

Chubut questions hake quota allocation

Several Fisheries organisations from the Patagonian province of Chubut are in disagreement with some of the items included in Resolution 675/04 from the Argentine Fisheries Department which allocated hubbsi hake catch quotas to the domestic fleet for the rest of year. The Argentine-Patagonian Chamber of Fisheries Industries (CAPIP), the Chamber of the Chubut Coastal Fleet (CAFCOS), and the Chamber of Fresh-Fish Factory Vessels (CAEPPeFRE) together with Chubut's provincial government -represented by the Fisheries Secretary Omar Rapoport- signed a document demanding a higher quota for Chubut's fishing fleets. According to the document Chubut's coastal fleet requests a additional minimum quota of 8,400 tonnes to meet basic operational needs of the sector and prevent lay-offs. In a previous document submitted to Undersecretary Gerardo Nieto they had requested an annual 20,000-tonne quota, whereas the latest resolution limits it to 6,800 tons for the rest of 2004. This volume is way below the annual maximum allowable catch usually allocated to Chubut argue local fisheries organizations. Even when the peak crisis the quota was 7,5%, whereas this year it is below 4%. The document also questions other measures which are considered detrimental for Chubut, one of them is the "inexplicable" compulsory 21-day ban that hits small fresh-fish vessels. The allocation of a 8,000-tonne quota to "the illegal vessels from the province of Buenos Aires, which do not possess a hake fishing license," as well as the legal actions that allowed freezer vessels from that province to fish "250% of the quota allocated by SAGPyA Resolution No. 484/2004" during the first half of this year, are also bitterly criticized. However fishing interests from the province of Buenos Aires are also critical of resolution 675/04. Darío Sócrate, manager for the Offshore Ship-owners Chamber of Mar del Plata complained that the quota allocated to the Buenos Aires fresh-fish fleet, 117,000 tonnes, is too low. Mr. Socrate underlined the damage caused by those vessels "officially benefited" which contributed to the over-fishing of the resource during the first six months of the year and anticipated they would request a portion of the "social" 8,000-tonne quota that benefited some of the vessels from the province, be included in order to ensure operations until the end of the year. (FIS/MP).-