MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU vessels “threaten” Chilean fisheries

Chile's fishing industry is on alert over the presence of two European Union fishing boats off the coast of Chile, just outside the 200 miles of Chile's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), over which the country has rights over the exploration and use of marine resources.

According to Cristián Jara, director general of the National Fishing Society (Sonapesca), the E.U. decision to authorize these boats goes against Chile's efforts to protect marine resources outside the 200-mile zone.

Jara says the boats bear Dutch and Irish flags and have a much larger capacity than is permitted by Chilean legislation.

"The seriousness of the matter is that in the year 2000, Chile cut its fleet in half, drastically reducing its catch from 4.4 million in 1998 to 1.4 million, which is now the maximum catch size for the national fleet," said Jara.

As well as the two new E.U. fishing boats, there are no less than seven Korean and Chinese boats currently fishing outside Chile's EEZ.

"If Chilean boats go outside the 200-mile zone, whatever they catch is deducted from their quota," said Jara. "So the situation is unfair and causes us a lot of harm."

Chile was also involved in controversy in the 1990s, when Welsh boats began fishing for swordfish off Chile's coast. The E.U. brought the case before the World Trade Organization when Chile's government refused the boats access to the country's ports.

By Cate Setterfield The Santiago Times