A twin Rig Trawl 'tangonero' vessel, as the shrimp fishing industry calls it

For the fishing sector, with the latest measures the 'shrimp dollar' arrived at the right time

The harvest of the crustacean up to 12 miles from the coast broke a record in Chubut and on April 15 it begins in national waters. The exchange rate at $300 will cover all seafood exports, of which shrimp contribute more than 50 percent.

For a year now, the fishing sector has been demanding a "shrimp dollar", which came in the form of the "agro dollar" of $300 (minus withholdings), which for thirty regional productions, including fishing, will be valid until 30 of May.

In fact, after the announcement of the "agro dollar", the Chamber of Fishing and Freezer Shipowners of Argentina (Capeca) celebrated "having been heard by the economic cabinet, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Undersecretary of Fisheries" and that they have "Understood the need of the industry in the face of the exchange rate delay and the drop in competitiveness."

"Although (the measures) are temporary, they arrive just in time, because the fishing industry could no longer bear this exchange rate delay," said Capeca, who recalled that the sector comes from 2022 with a drop of 8.4% in its exports. "product of the combination between the fall in prices and the decline in demand in the main international markets, mainly shrimp that represented 53% of the exported value in 2022."

Although he celebrated the "agro dollar", Capeca recalled that the delay of the official dollar with respect to inflation and the increase in costs generates "important economic losses for exporting companies, discouraging investment and attacking job creation." In fact, throughout 2022 the sector repeatedly raised the issue with Economy officials, as well as the request to be exempted from the “tourist dollar” for payment of satellite communication services.

Twin Rig Trawl 'tangonero' processing frozen on board. Photo: CAPECA

Exporting power

Although the "agro dollar" will cover the entire fishing sector, it must be taken into account that in the last 10 campaigns (2013 to 2022) shrimp exports (tail and whole) totaled USD 9,671 million and in some years accounted for more than 60% of the total external sales of the sector, as in 2018, when they contributed with USD 1,304 million of the USD 2,155 million of total fishing exports, the historical maximum.

On March 31, the shrimp campaign in Chubut closed, with 116,000 tons of catch and income of USD 820 million, both historical records at the provincial level. It is about fishing in waters up to 12 miles from the coast. "The milestone was reached from the recent improvement of the Rawson port (where 91,800 tons were unloaded) and the adoption of restrictions to care for the resource," highlighted the administration of Mariano Arcioni.

In the case of Rawson, the landing was 72% higher than the 2022 campaign and another 24,356 tons were landed in Puerto Madryn.

Biology

— Why was the season so good? Infobae asked Gabriel Aguilar, the Chubut Secretary of Fisheries.

— ”It is difficult to be certain, but we suspect two biological reasons: the campaign began later, on November 20, 2022, when it was usual to start at the beginning of November, which gave more time for the development of the shoal, and in Secondly, in recent years we have taken great care of the fishing ground, closing and opening areas as appropriate”.

Aguilar recalled that the province was used to "moving" about 70,000 tons per year in the provincial harvest. Those volumes implied some 8,000 to 9,000 jobs. This time, the demand was stretched to between 12,000 and 13,000 jobs. "Chubut has 42 processing plants, and this season, for biological reasons, we close with fish in the water, so as not to stress the fishing ground," Aguilar explained. Extending the season would have also required renegotiating the agreements of the different unions, which expired on March 31.

The great campaign in Chubut allowed, for example, Conarpesa, which processes wild shrimp from fresh vessels and its own plants on land, to market everything it caught in provincial waters in February and March, as reported at the Seafood Expo, in Boston ( USA).

Twin Rig Trawl 'tangonero'  wetshrimp supply local factories. Photo: courtesy Revista Puerto

The remaining shrimp remained for the so-called “red fleet” (freezer and fresh-fish vessels that fish more than 12 miles in the Argentine Sea, which extends up to mile 200).

— Did they run out of the "agro dollar?" Infobae asked Aguilar.

— There are still products in stock. This measure has a full impact on small and large companies, it gives financial relief, to guarantee that we will maintain volume”, replied the Chubut Secretary of Fisheries. 

The national shrimp harvest in "off-limits" areas (basically, north of the 41st parallel) begins on April 15 and in the "closed area" (due to the preservation of hake and the shrimp itself) at the end of May or beginning June, according to what arises from the exploration campaign of the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (Inidep), which began on March 24, again on board the ship "Bogavante Segundo", of Iberconsa, which will return to port in the next days. The explorations always seek to be carried out on the same vessel, to keep constant what in the fishing jargon is referred to as CPUE: "Catches per Unit of Effort".

The one who can contribute the most dollars

Of the thirty regional products to which the agricultural dollar will be applied, the fishing sector is the one with the greatest export potential, as shown in the graph of the study by Jorge Vasconcelos and Maximiliano Gutiérrez, researchers from the Ieral of Fundación Mediterránea, on the scope of the recent measure. As can be seen, fishery exports are only surpassed by those of bovine meat, which are not covered by the measure.

Photo: Among the different productive chains reached by the agricultural dollar, the fishing industry is the one that can contribute the most foreign currency. Only the bovine chain exceeds it, excluded from the measure

In the coming days, the fishing sector will meet with government authorities to find out precisely the measures and procedures for accessing the agricultural dollar. Basically, it deals with supply objectives and prices in the local market (adherence to "Fair Prices"), maintenance of staffing and foreign exchange settlement, to which companies should commit, one by one.

For shrimp farmers, the measure arrives on time, because it will cover the bulk of the national campaign and they will be able to liquidate almost the entire catch through pre-financing of exports.

Sergio Massa and the 'AgroSector'. Photo: Infobae

The final result will depend not only on the volume of fishing, but also on prices in a weakened international market. Prices in 2022 rebounded compared to 2021, although they remained much lower than those of pre-pandemic.

Looking east

Now it will depend to a large extent on Chinese demand, which in recent years had been very weak due to extreme port closure measures such as the one in Shanghai to contain the pandemic. Prices are tied to export contracts. In the case of shrimp, towards the end of last year they barely exceeded USD 6,300 per ton. Currently, Capeca estimates the "production cost" of a ton of shrimp at USD 6,800 a ton "on board" the freezers or "factory ships".

Photo: The evolution of the international price of the whole shrimp, in dollars per ton. By December 2022 it barely exceeded USD 6,300

A sign of the economic importance of fishing was the launch, on Tuesday, April 4, of the Fisheries Industrial Production Index (IPI Pesquero), a new indicator from INDEC. The objective, said the agency dependent on the Economy, is "to measure the monthly evolution of the sector's production broken down by group of species -fish, crustaceans and molluscs and by type of vessel -fresh fish and freezers-".

In its first report, the Fisheries IPI recorded that maritime fishing represents 94.4% of the Gross Production Value of the sector and that, despite a drop in activity in February, the first two months closed with a year-on-year increase of 14, 4%. The increase, of course, was led by "crustaceans" (basically, shrimp) with a year-on-year increase of 55.3 percent.

Of course, the sector is also awaiting the warning from the Union of Naval Motorists Drivers (Siconara) that on March 29 declared itself in a state of alert due to the effect on their remuneration of the Income Tax "for which the State withholds them workers a large part of their salaries" and insists on a "legitimate and well-founded request for tax relief."

“On-board workers do not earn, but rather obtain better salaries in relation to other activities based on greater physical and psychological effort, assuming greater health and life risks that expose them to premature wear and tear. They carry out their work in an environment that is not natural for human beings and sacrifice their social life and that of their families to obtain a better salary," says the statement, which warned of a possible stoppage of activities and was also signed by the Center for Naval Engineer Chiefs and Officers, the Center for Overseas Captains and Officers of the Merchant Navy and the Union of United Maritime Workers (SOMU).

Author/Source: Sergio Serrichio / Infobae

Related news:

• Historic record: 91 thousand tons of shrimp were caught this season in the Province of Chubut

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