MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina orders back vessels over-fishing hake.

The Argentine government ordered the Argentine Naval Prefecture, (Coast Guard) to immediately call to port all vessels which continue to fish despite having exceeded the common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) quota allocated for this year.

The decision involves several freezer trawlers operating in the South Atlantic which have been granted a legal appeal recourse.

According to the magazine Pesca y Puertos, freezer trawlers Itxas Lur, María Liliana, María Eugenia, Fonseca, Stella Maris, as well as those belonging to the Spanish company Iberconsa are included among those which have exceeded catches established last August by Resolution 675/04 from the Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Secretariat.

In spite of the urgency of the Executive order the Argentine Coast Guard has had some trouble implementing enforcement of the decision because several skippers claim that they are protected by the ruling from Rawson Federal Judge Miguel Angel Guidici. According to fisheries sources these vessels argue they are entitled to continue fishing until the Court decides on the heart of the matter which is the constitutional validity of a 1999 emergency decree issued to avoid the collapse of the hake fishery.

Pesca y Puertos reports that the Argentine government is determined to stop "indiscriminate illegal fishing" by retaining in port the involved fishing vessels for 60 days, so as to prevent them from more incursions.