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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 14th 2026 - 18:07 UTC

Fisheries

  • Friday, August 15th 2025 - 12:51 UTC

    No end in sight for Uruguayan fishing conflict

    The Uruguayan Chamber of Fishing Industries (CIPU) is reportedly looking to hire non-union workers, adding to the tension

    An ongoing fishing conflict in Uruguay, which began in early June 2025, has halted the coastal fleet and left over 2,000 workers jobless. The dispute has led to an estimated loss of more than US$40 million and reduced Uruguay's fishing quota in the Rio de la Plata from 70,000 tons to 35,000 tons for this year.

  • Thursday, August 7th 2025 - 12:14 UTC

    Falklands, Loligo season

    The Falkland Islands Government’s (FIG) Fisheries Department yesterday issued a 48-hour notice of closure for the winter loligo fishery season.

  • Wednesday, August 6th 2025 - 07:28 UTC

    Argentina accepts Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, five remaining for entry into force

    Ambassador Lunazzi: This firm commitment to fairer and freer trade not only strengthens our economy, but also protects the marine resources in the South Atlantic

    Argentina deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 22 July. Ambassador Gustavo Lunazzi presented Argentina’s instrument of acceptance to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Just five more acceptances are needed for the Agreement to enter into force.

  • Monday, July 28th 2025 - 09:09 UTC

    Technology monitoring MPAs with satellite and artificial technology to deter illegal fishing

    The study published by Science, “Little-to-no industrial fishing occurs in fully and highly protected marine areas”:

    New research in the journal Science demonstrates the power of strict legal bans against industrial fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs). The analysis — which combines satellite imagery and artificial intelligence technology to detect previously untraceable vessels — reveals that most of the globe’s fully and highly protected MPAs successfully deter illegal fishing. The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that the most strictly protected marine reserves are well respected and are not simply “paper parks.”

  • Sunday, July 20th 2025 - 07:23 UTC

    Galician Fleet Sets Sail for Falklands with Cautious Optimism Amid Loligo Squid Uncertainty

    Modern factory trawler 'Argos Cies' (IMO: 9818644) operating in JV under the flag of the 'Falkland Islands'.

    Despite sharp declines in recent seasons and unanswered questions about stock migration, nearly 1,000 crew members embark on a crucial four-month campaign vital to the region's economy.

  • Saturday, July 19th 2025 - 11:11 UTC

    A year from Argos Georgia tragedy, MAIB releases interim report which cost 13 lives

    Argos Georgia seriously lists before foundering (Photo by RAF)

    UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, MAIB, released this week an interim report on the investigation of the foundering of the long liner Argos Georgia, approximately 190 nautical miles east of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, with the loss of 13 lives, 22 July 2024.

  • Saturday, July 12th 2025 - 10:30 UTC

    Boric enacts Chile's new Fisheries Law

    “Wealth belongs to those who produce it, and that wealth should not remain in the hands of large companies,” Boric insisted

    Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font enacted Chile's new Fisheries Division Law (Law 21,752) on Thursday, a landmark piece of legislation that rebalances fishing quotas in favor of the artisanal sector. The signing into law follows its successful passage through the Constitutional Court. Joining Boric at the ceremony were Economy Minister Nicolás Grau and Undersecretary of Fisheries Julio Salas.

  • Monday, June 30th 2025 - 09:54 UTC

    Argentine shrimp catch going through severe crisis

    The crisis has led to economic damage in ports like Mar del Plata and Puerto Madryn

    A severe crisis in Argentina's shrimp fishing industry, described as the worst in its history, has left 113 freezer vessels idle, 5,000 workers unemployed, and caused over US$200 million in export losses. The conflict stems from a dispute between fishing companies and unions (SOMU and Simape) over adjusting the Collective Labor Agreement, which ties workers' production bonuses to a 2005 shrimp price of US$12 per kilo.

  • Monday, June 16th 2025 - 10:50 UTC

    Great triumph for David Attenborough and his Ocean film: end of bottom trawling??

    Sir David Attenborough and King Charles at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) in the French city of Nice

    At the age of 99, the documentary film-maker David Attenborough has achieved his greatest triumph. With a single film clip, he has signed the death warrant for one of the world’s most destructive industries: bottom trawling. The companies and countries that do it will go down fighting and it will take time, but they will go down.

  • Monday, June 9th 2025 - 09:12 UTC

    UK Government wants to end bottom trawling to protect MPAs sea beds; 12 weeks consultation

    A consultation will invite marine and fisheries stakeholders to share their views and evidence on the prohibition of destructive bottom-towed fishing gear (Pic Greenpeace)

    Bottom trawling – a fishing method that involves dragging large nets along the sea floor – could be banned across more vulnerable areas of English seas. The government is committed to protecting UK oceans and has outlined plans to ban the destructive practice in more Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The measures would help protect rare marine animals, as well as the delicate sea-beds on which they rely, from indiscriminate and potentially irreversible damage.