The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), in coordination with the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA) and the National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INAPESCA), will promote the updating of the General Law of Fisheries and Sustainable Aquaculture to adapt it to the new threats and challenges for the sector in the coming years.

 

Once the updated proposal is ready, the SADER will hand it over to the Executive Power, so that it is sent to the Legislative Power for its approval and later entry into force.

 

This was announced by the head of SADER, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, at the conclusion of the three-day  meeting held at the headquarters of the CONAPESCA, where he stressed that "the objective of undertaking a comprehensive update of the sector is to give certainty and vision of the future for the next decades, as it is being projected by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador."

 

It was also agreed to submit a proposed amendment to the Federal Criminal Code to tighten sanctions on those engaged in illegal fishing.

 

"We have a very important agenda that has to do with all the normative part that we must review, this should lead us to a job with the Legal Department of the Presidency of the Republic and with the Congress of the Union," he added.

 

Secretary Villalobos said that the SADER seeks to improve the fishing and aquaculture activity with adequate legal instruments that allow a good inspection and surveillance, certification of fishery and aquaculture products and a review of international agreements, among other issues.

 

As a result of meetings of the working groups in which officials from the SADER, CONAPESCA and INAPESCA participated, it was also agreed to evaluate the possibility of modifying the guidelines for the issuance of concessions and fishing permits, as well as to systematize procedures.

 

For his part, National Commissioner for Aquaculture and Fisheries Raúl Elenes Angulo highlighted that the institution's guideline is to work in a consistent and transparent manner to meet the needs of the fisheries and aquaculture sector.