State of hubbsi hake and emphatic demand for measures
ARGENTINA
Thursday, December 12, 2019, 00:00 (GMT + 9)
Figures of the total and reproductive biomass remain close to the limit point set by the INIDEP to sustain or recover the resource. A successful spawning in 2017 may have contributed and that is why the INIDEP considers it key to reduce bycatch and eliminate discards, whose values are increasing along with the capture.
The report of the southern hake stock, which represents 90% of the catches, shows an increase in landings, in the catches of other countries at mile 201, as well as in bycatch and discards. Figures are closed to those set as a minimum objective to recover and sustain the resource; but INIDEP researchers in charge of the report warn that it is necessary to urgently comply with the repeated recommendations made to the Federal Fisheries Council: reduce bycatch, eliminate disposal, use selective gear, maintain the fishing ban and remove ships from that area when the hake reproductive process begins in spring.
“The estimated total average catch between 2008 and 2012 stabilized at around 340 thousand tons, while between 2013 and 2016 it rose around 400 thousand tons, given that the catch of other countries was held at an average close to 54 thousand tons . In the last two years it reached 420 thousand tons. Considering the entire analysis period, the estimated discard had an average annual level of 57 thousand tons and the bycatch of 29 thousand tons. It was observed that discards, in particular, have been increasing progressively after the implementation of the CITC,” the report notes.
To measure the impact of the fleet on the hake fishery and make catch recommendations, researchers estimate the Total Biomass at the beginning of the season, which indicates the approximate amount of hake in the fishing ground. Also the Reproductive Biomass, which represents the amount of mature specimens capable of reproducing at least once. These magnitudes, like the projections, are measured with two different models, one standardized (APV XSA) and another that incorporates new data and introduces corrections (CEE).
In 2018, the Total Biomass estimated with the standardized model was 885 thousand tons and with the other model, 1.14 million tons. For the Reproductive Biomass, the first model indicated 540 thousand tons and the second, 650 thousand. This shows that the minimum reference value set by INIDEP to maintain or recover the hake fishery is close to being reached.
The difference in the results between the two models is mainly due to the reading they make of the 2017 recruitment, being for one more successful than for the other, according to the researchers. The difference in Total Biomass is 20% and in the Reproductive Biomass 15%, but then they have many coincidences in the reading of the resource.
The estimation of large players, for example, showed 18% in both models. The same happened with the measurement of fishing mortality. There was a decrease in the average mortality of ages 3 to 6 between 2014 and 2018; but an increase in the capture of juveniles such as bycatch in the same period.
The researchers point out that the Juvenile Permanent Ban Area partially protected the juveniles of the hake fleet; the average age of the catches represents specimens that have never been reproduced.
They also add that in that area, since 2011 the shrimp fishery with hake bycatch, mainly juveniles, has been developed. "Therefore, despite the ban, a high percentage of juveniles was captured and discarded."
At the same time it is indicated that “the prolongation of the fishing season in the closed area allowed the overlapping of the operations of the shrimp fleet with those of the hake fleet, which begins to concentrate in spring in the North-Patagonian coast between 43º and 45º South. This caused an increase in fishing mortality of mature adult specimens. That is why it has been strongly recommended that the fleet leave the area as of October. ”
Based on these data and deducting irregularities in the fishery, which represent 35% in discards and under-declaration, the researchers projected a maximum allowable catch with four feasible scenarios to maintain or raise the limit point set for sustainable management. Depending on whether it is intended to project a period of three or seven years, the values were from 247 thousand tons to 304 thousand tons.
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These figures include the capture of the foreign fleet in FAO Area 41 - mile 201 - estimated at 55 thousand tons, which must be subtracted to grant a capture authorization to the national fleet.
The report to the Federal Fisheries Council expressly clarifies that the level established as "Maximum catch is only a management measure within the set of measures necessary to achieve the sustainability of the exploitation of the resource". Therefore, it is emphatically argued that concrete measures must be taken to reduce the capture of juveniles and to avoid the fishing of breeders when they begin to concentrate for their reproduction.
And they go on to enumerate the measures to be taken: maintain the current dimensions of the juvenile closed area; use fishing gear and selective devices to minimize the capture of juveniles such as bycatch, in order to reduce discards; increase controls on catch and effort statements in order to avoid underestimations; achieve effective protection of adult concentrations in the reproductive season from October to April, when the shrimp fleet operates within the closed area; annually adjust the coverage of the On-Board Observer Program in the hake and shrimp fleets.
The researchers conclude by making it clear that these minimum levels of Total Biomass, Reproductive Biomass and Large Reproducers can be reached or maintained, if in addition to setting a catch within the recommended range all these measures are applied.
The Federal Fisheries Council opted for a level higher than the highest recommended catch (it did not contemplate the foreign fleet) and today it is not in a position to guarantee neither greater controls, nor a greater number of efficient observers, it does not sanction discarding and allows bycatch levels several times greater than recommended. Nor does it end fishing within the closed area when the reproductive process begins or force the fleet to use selective gear.
Author: Karina Fernández / Revista Puerto
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