A Uruguayan fishing vessel. (Photo: uruguaypesca.com.uy)

Bad times for the Uruguayan fishing industry

URUGUAY
Monday, December 02, 2013, 01:20 (GMT + 9)

The Uruguayan fishing industry is going through in a critical situation due to a number of factors that reduce its competitiveness, such as the key market blockage, high costs, a decline in catches and trade disputes.

The fishing- related businesses are feeling the impact of a fall in international sales, to which the possible closure of an important destination market for its exports -- Nigeria – is added.

According to the data provided by the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources (Dinara), in 2012 Uruguay exported fishery products for USD 189 million, 20 per cent less than the previous year.

According to the 2012 Statistical Fisheries Bulletin issued by Dinara, last year the export volume was also lowered, which was 17 per cent lower than in 2011. And the entrepreneurs of the sector expect a similar drop by late 2013.

Hake exports, for example, last year fell by 35 per cent in volume compared to 2011, and those of croaker were down by 9 per cent year on year.

According to sources of Fripur, the main Uruguayan fisheries resource exporting firm, "the recession in the European Union (EU) and the stimulus measures implemented by developed countries to overcome the crisis have had an adverse effect on the industry," El Pais reported.

In 2011, Fripur recorded sales of USD 75 million, which represented 32 per cent of total exports of the Uruguayan fishing industry, according to a report by the Institute Uruguay XXI.

The fall in exports to the EU (32 per cent in value and 44 per cent in volume) and to Brazil (27 per cent in value and 15 per cent in volume) has turned Africa into a more important market for the Uruguayan firms.

Sales to Nigeria, for example, grew by almost 40 per cent in value in 2012 compared with 2011, reaching USD 45.5 million) and positioning this market in the first place. But the eventual closure of the market by the government's decision to restrict fish imports generates a new concern for the national industry.

According to the president of the Chamber of Fishing Vessel Owners, Ricardo Piñeiro, "the Government of Nigeria has banned the import of fish on the grounds that they are planning to develop aquaculture."

Dinara director, Daniel Gilardoni, admitted that they are aware of a decision that would close the doors to fish import in the African country.

Uruguay exports almost 90 per cent of the fish catch, and the rest is domestically traded.

According to statistics from Dinara, in 2012 a total of 70.145 tonnes was landed (46,774 tonnes were hake and croaker), 17,847 tonnes less than in 2011.

For some members of the fishing industry, the decline in catch is due to overfishing in the Rio de la Plata and in the common fishing zone (ZCP) shared with Argentina, which concentrates 80 per cent of the fishing operations of the Uruguayan industrial fleet.

By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print