MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile announces drastic cuts in catch quotas, raps private sector for over-fishing

Economy minister Juan Andres Fontaine

An immediate drastic reduction in fishing capture quotas and adapting to the new reality was announced this week by Chile’s Minister of Economy Juan Andres Fontaine who unexpectedly participated in the Chilean National Fisheries Council meeting.

“It is imperative to establish a drastic reduction in global capture quotas for important fisheries and the challenge for industrial and coastal fishing will be to adapt to the new reality”, said Minister Fontaine.

He added that based on recent scientific surveys, most Chilean fisheries are over exploited, and that “is the main reason for my presence at the Council”.

“The current over exploitation of the main Chilean fisheries is most worrisome and in some cases the situation has become critical” warned Fontaine.

This is the case for Chile’s main capture species, jurel (Inca scad or Chilean Jack mackerel) but also includes skates, golden king clip, hoki and anchovy.

Fontaine said that past fishing policies are mostly to blame for the situation and are threatening the long term sustainability of the resource by allowing catches greater than the biological optimum. “This in other words meant global catch quotas larger that those scientifically recommended”.

“The fishing policies of the last Chilean administrations were mainly short term, and responsibility for this was shared by the several governments but also by the private sector represented here by the National Fisheries council, which has resolution power in the clue decisions. These decisions have a direct impact on the whole system and could end eroding the good management of fisheries”, added Fontaine.

To this must be added the activities of foreign vessels operating outside Chile’s exclusive economic zone (200 miles) which have strongly eroded migratory straddling species such as the Inca scad “since there are no controls over that fishing effort” and “has obviously seriously diminished catches in Chilean waters”.

Fontaine also criticized the inefficiency of measures adopted in the framework of the Southern Pacific regional fisheries organization, ORP, for the conservation of resources. “These accords are not bonding for member states of the organization”.

Finally Fontaine mentioned poor inspection of landings. “It has never been effective, particularly for landings from coastal fishing which are not exposed to any rigorous controls, and this ends influencing all players in the fishing industry”.