Fishing vessels. (Photo: CedePesca)
Marine protected area creation worries the fishing sector
ARGENTINA
Tuesday, August 22, 2017, 00:30 (GMT + 9)
The plan promoted by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation (MAyDS) to create new marine protected areas (MPAs) in Argentine waters, where fishing activities are prohibited, has generated strong concerns in the fisheries sector, which is also shared by the Federal Fisheries Council.
The fishing industry fears that hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of the Argentine Sea are definitively prohibited for commercial fishing.
The proposal of the "National System of Marine Protected Areas" is framed in the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Said plan contemplates the possibility of designating five MPAs: El Rincón, Corredor Chubut, Agujero Azul, Talud de Burwood, and Yaganes, depending on different conservation values of different species.
The concern of the sector was formally raised last week in a note that the main chambers of the country sent to the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP), where they summarize the statements to reject the initiative, which means a move towards the closure of 10 per cent of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
"The initiative has no scientific basis nor does it correspond to recent analyzes. These are areas that are at the same time regulated and monitored by the National Fisheries Authority," the text points out, according to Pescare.
In the industry’s opinion, this program invades natural and legal powers of the Fisheries Application Authority and the CFP, which have been working with multiple management and conservation measures.
"We are facing a subversion of the powers of the Ministry (of Agroindustry of the Nation) and the consequent loss of institutional hierarchy in the matter ... We reaffirm that fishing companies are protagonists of responsible fishing, acting in compliance with the principles and regulations that govern the activity", they emphasize in the written statement.
In this regard, the CFP stated that it considers it essential "to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the biological parametres and scientific basis that support the definition of areas having high vulnerability, as well as the socio-economic impact of their determination in the Argentine industrial fishing sector".
In line with the concern expressed by the different chambers of the fishing sector, the CFP emphasized the importance of the national fishing activity, the labour force employed by this industry and the entry of export currency from the products of this sector.
The CFP also reported that it is preparing a technical and scientific document, which will make it available to the MAyDS, in order to express its position regarding the proposal of the National System of Marine Protected Areas.
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Photo Courtesy of FIS Member CeDePesca - Centro Desarrollo y Pesca Sustentable
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