MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Golden kingclip fishing prohibited until end of year

The ban on kingclip will run from 17 Sept to 31 Dec 2007

Argentina - The nation's Subsecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SSP&A) has prohibited golden kingclip (Genypterus blacodes) fishing from 17 September to 31 December, 2007.

According to their Disposition 40/2007, the measure was taken upon reaching the total allowable catch (TAC) of 16,000 tonnes, which had been established by Resolution Nº 3/2005 of the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP), as a precautionary measure to ensure the conservation of the resource since this year, as well as last year, total catches had not been defined. The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Foods (SAGP&A) reported that between 1 January and 10 September this year, 17,823.5 tonnes of golden kingclip had been landed. Of the total landed, 10,981.3 tonnes were unloaded in the port of Mar de Plata (Buenos Aires). At Puerto Madryn (Chubut) 3,505.6 tonnes of golden kingclip were landed; Puerto Deseado (Santa Cruz) had 975.6 tonnes; the terminal port of San Antonio Este (Rio Negro), 819.4 tonnes; the port of Bahia Blanca (Buenos Aires), 451.2 tonnes; and at Comodoro Rivadavia (Chubut) 355.7 tonnes were landed. Up to 10 September this month, fresh fish vessels landed 10,546.6 tonnes of kingclip, while the trawler fleets landed 5,925.3 tonnes. Coastal vessels landed 587.6 tonnes and longliner vessels landed 356.4 tonnes of the resource. The National Food Safety and Quality Service (SENASA) reported that for the first seven months of this year, Argentina exported 316,790 tonnes of fish and shellfish at a value of USD 603.98 million, of which 6,377 tonnes corresponded to golden kingclip shipments worth USD 22.2 million. Spain was the main destination for kingclip with 3,579 tonnes worth USD 11.3 million; Brazil, with 1,295 tonnes worth USD 6.6 million; and Russia, with 681 tonnes worth USD 2 million. (FIS)