British Prime Minister Theresa May and president Mauricio Macri at G-20 Summit, held in Buenos Aires.

Argentina and UK will deepen fishing relations

ARGENTINA
Thursday, December 06, 2018, 21:50 (GMT + 9)

After the recent bilateral meeting of President Mauricio Macri with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Buenos Aires, it was informed that the governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina will seek to underpin at least three issues of bilateral relations in the immediate term: joint efforts to conduct a fishing survey in the South Atlantic, advance scientific operations in Antarctica and deepen trade.

Map of Argentina including the territorial claims on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Argentine Antarctic.►

"There is a lot to work to do and the meeting of President Macri with Prime Minister May offered a strong boost to bilateral relations," a Foreign Office spokesperson told Infobae.

In the Argentine Foreign Ministry it was agreed on the need to assess that the link between Argentina and Britain undergoes "a great moment and we must take advantage of it."

The announcement of flights from the Falkland Islands to Córdoba, added to the London designation of a commercial envoy in Buenos Aires to give impetus to an eventual free trade agreement in the future, offered a strong relaunch to bilateral relations.

In this context, a Government official remarked to Infobae that in the coming months there will be new announcements that emerge from that "road map" that was set in 2016 in a London-Buenos Aires statement.

►John Barton and his team have been asking for scientific collaboration with the Argentine administration for many years to be able to make a better joint management of resources such as the Illex squid.

Chancellor Jorge Faurie and the Foreign Office and the ambassadors of Great Britain, Mark Kent, as well as Carlos Sersale di Cerisano, from Argentina, have been working hard since the meeting between Macri and May to continue deepening relations on the following three issues:

1.Fishing Cooperation: Two weeks ago, the Scientific Subcommittee of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission (CPAS) was formed in London. It was the second meeting of the year as the first one had been in May, in Buenos Aires. Officials and scientists from Argentina and Great Britain, as well as representatives of the Falkland Islands, have attended the scientific subcommittee.

Map of The Falklands, Georgia and territories under British administration.

What they are discussing is the exchange of scientific data and the possible performance of joint scientific cruises, with the aim of guaranteeing the conservation of natural fishing resources in the South Atlantic," said a spokesperson for British diplomacy.

► Satellite photo with special filters that are sensitive to light in which it is clearly seen where the Illex squid fishing vessels operate.

At the same time, in the Argentine government, Infobae pointed out that a methodological scientific survey scheme is being used to determine squid or hake depredation levels in the South Atlantic.

"There will not be a fishing agreement or anything like that because currently that is impracticable due to the permanence of the conflict over the Falkland Islands, but at least tools will be sought to evaluate the situation of maritime fauna with scientific vessels from Great Britain to put limits on the overexploitation of fisheries in the South Atlantic," said an important official of the Argentina House of Federal Government.

Night fishing of squid attracted by the lights of the jigging vessels ►

2.Antarctic Cooperation: According to what could be known, there is a memorandum of understanding signed by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA) to promote joint scientific research projects and training as well as exchange activities.

The memorandum was signed in May and initially lasts for five years.

The intention of this agreement between Great Britain and Argentina is to give a formal framework to joint scientific research projects and training and exchange activities in Antarctica. This document - which was started by BAS director Jane Francis, and IAA director Rodolfo Sánchez - stipulates that both organizations "will seek opportunities for cooperation, through the optimization of the human and material resources of both institutions, in initiatives of mutual interest on Antarctic science and technology."

► British map showing the area of ​​Antarctica

3. Commercial potential: The recent designation from London of a commercial representative in Argentina is part of a strong gesture of the United Kingdom after the meeting between May and Macri last Friday in Buenos Aires.

The announcement of the new British representative in Argentina is intended to, according to the diplomatic sources from London and Buenos Aires, eventually move forward in a free trade agreement. Although it is known that this will depend to a large extent on how the Brexit will be legally settled.

For the time being, Menzies' task will be to boost bilateral trade between both countries as it was expressed by Macri and May.

Areas of oil exploration carried out by the authorities of the Islands. Commercially, they have the serious inconvenience of "logistics" that nowadays must be performed from the port of Montevideo that is very remote and makes the possible oil operation very expensive.

There is a battery of other pending issues that were addressed in the reserved meeting between the Argentine president and the British prime minister, but fishing, Antarctica and trade are now urgent issues to maintain the "road map" of relations.

Source: Infobae

Full article here.

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