Trawler capture. (Photo: Oceana)

Industrial fishermen regret govt announcement to restrict trawling

The Association of Fishing Industrialists (ASIPES) "deeply" regrets the decision of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) to freeze the trawling footprint of industrial fishing by restricting its operation to the maximum.

The union of the southern zone considers that this measure is inefficient and ineffective because it does not point at the real problems affecting the resources, which in its opinion, are illegal fishing and sub-reporting.

"It is surprising that the call is made by the Government together with a conservation NGO, without the actors, posing the productive activities that take place there as mere observers. Even more surprising is that the authority announces uninformed measures, omitting the fisheries institutions that govern the sector. It is appropriate to make the announcements once the communications have been made to the Technical Scientific Committee and the Fishing Zonal Councils, with the technical reports that warrant it and not vice versa, as established by the Fisheries Law," ASIPES president Macarena Cepeda Godoy said.

The executive indicated that the union agrees on the protection of the seabed in all areas that have been preserved, as she did by supporting the incorporation of the Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (Submarine Mountains, Coral Reefs and Hot Springs) in the Fishing Act approved in 2012 and that today are safeguarded. However, she argues that freezing the trawling footprint in the terms that the authority has set, without considering the effects that climate change may have on fishery resources, demonstrates a lack of analysis of the antecedents that today determine the fishing operation.

From ASIPES it is stressed that if what is sought is the sustainability of resources and the protection of ecosystems, then it is necessary to adopt effective measures that aim to combat the real problems that affect the national fishing activity, such as illegal fishing and the sub-reports, main causes of the slow recovery of the fisheries, especially of the common hake.

According to the association, worldwide trawling generates 80 per cent of seafood catches for human consumption, representing 12 million tonnes per year with a lower environmental impact than other food producing activities. Of the 29 fishing countries that are members of the OECD, including Chile and the European Union, fishing is carried out in 26 of them and trawling is practised in all of them.

On the other hand, she emphasizes that in Chile, trawling is not practised in shallow waters, neither in inland waters or in bays. Chiloé trawling is not carried out in the south, nor is bottom fishing permitted in areas of seamounts.

ASIPES president stressed that the socio-economic impact generated by this activity is important for the country. It is carried out in seven towns: Coquimbo, Quintero, Tomé, Talcahuano, Coronel, Puerto Aysén and Punta Arenas, and generates direct work for more than 5,500 people, and indirectly for further 15,000.

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