The National Board of Fisheries did not approve Subpesca's proposal to shift quotas from the South to the North. (Photo: Subpesca/NOAA/FIS)

Northern area to not receive larger quota for horse mackerel

CHILE
Friday, September 10, 2010, 04:10 (GMT + 9)

The National Fisheries Council (CNP) have rejected a proposal to transfer 40,000 tonnes of the horse mackerel quota from fisheries in the south to those in the north.

The Subsecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca) had proposed the reallocation, but the initiative did not achieve the necessary quorum of 17 votes.

The proposal had 12 votes in favor, two abstentions and five against.

Fisheries Subsecretary Pablo Galilea was extremely disappointed by the decision.

"We were trying to respond to social and economic demands in the north, whereas the south has a large fishing quota yet little fishing actually takes place, whilst on the other hand, the north always reaches the designated quota. It was an opportunity to create viable operational plans with this transfer," he explained.

Tthe Subsecretary added: "The proposal was supported by technical and scientific studies which indicate that, given the amount of the global catch quota for 2010, projected that in no case would we have exceeded the maximum 800,000 tonnes, we could have caught up to 40,000 tonnes under the system of fisheries research. Unfortunately, the north will continue to be inconvenienced."

In this context it should also be noted that Corpesca S.A. recently laid off around 100 workers due to a shortage of anchovy and mackerel quotas, reports Diario Financiero.

Galilea also criticised those who now advocate the preservation of horse mackerel but that "did not have the same behavior in the past, when they approved much higher quotas than what the technicians and scientists recommended."

In mid-August, Oceana petitioned the Ministry of Economy to reduce the annual quota for horse mackerel, as recommended by experts at the Institute of Fisheries Development (IFOP).

The organization sent the economy minister, Juan Andrés Fontaine, a background report showing an over-allocation of the annual quota set for mackerel during the past 10 years.

According to the survey, between 2003 and 2010, the CNP invariably set the global annual quota for horse mackerel, over the limits recommended by technical reports from the IFOP.

According to the latest Report on the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector prepared by Subpesca, the total landings of mackerel cumulative to July 2010 reached 401,400 tonnes, which is 45.3 per cent less than the same period in 2009 (733,500 tonnes).

Between January and July this year, the area between V and X regions landed 205,500 tonnes of the pelagic resource, 51.2 per cent of the total.

Meanwhile, in the XV and II regions 162,300 tonnes was caught, and in areas III and IV around 33,500 tonnes of horse mackerel was fished.

Related article:

- NGO calls for horse mackerel quota reduction

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

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