Under the new regulation, Chubut will maintain 30 per cent of its hubbsi hake quota. (Photo: CeDePesca)

Long-awaited hake-fixing process soon to become a reality

ARGENTINA
Tuesday, September 08, 2009, 16:20 (GMT + 9)

A system of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) will go into effect as of January 2010, and offer predictability for executives and workers, as well as facilitate controls on part of the State and a reordinance of all Argentine fisheries.

Fishing sector unions expressed their support for at a meeting with the subsecretary of the Argentine Fisheries and Aquaculture Subsecretariat (SSP&A), Norberto Yauhar.

Yauhar reported that the fixing of catch limits of the resource "is already resolved."

Under the new regulation, which will be signed mid-month, Chubut will maintain 30 per cent of its hubbsi hake quota, a figure that used to be distributed among the ports of the province; Buenos Aires acquires 60 per cent and the rest will be allocated to Rio Negro and Santa Cruz, Yahuar noted.

"We want the processing of this fish to be made along the borders of Chubut province,” added the official.

If there needs to be a sale or transfer process of quotas from one firm to another or from one boat to another, "it should be done with the stipulation that they have to be boats or firms located in the province of Chubut." As such, the share in the fishing ground is guaranteed, he explained.

"We are not going to permit that certain volume of hake be transferred permanently to another place regardless if a fishing permit has been bought. That permit will have to continue operating within the jurisdiction of the province," Yauhar added.

The fixing of hake catch limits was the most difficult, and this process delayed that of the other three hake species: southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis), hoki (Macruronus magellanicus) and Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), El Chubut reports.

“These were defined yet however await the final documentation set to be drafted at the close of the catch- limit-fixing process of the hubbsi,” Yahuar said.

"The idea is to put forth the hake catch limits of species together in the document. The drafts are there and approved by the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP); only the document is needed to make it operational,” he affirmed.

The quotas will be defined according to "three asignations": one based on investment record and workforce; another based on current context and boats incorporated; and a third for reparations based on history.

The quotas will be in force for 15 years.

A total of 170,563.3 tonnes of hake were landed between 1 January and 4 September of this year in Argentine maritime ports, reveal Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food (SAGP&A) statistics.

This volume represents a 5.3 per cent drop compared to the 180,051.1 tonnes landed in the same period in 2008.

Related articles:

- Maritime unions endorse application of ITQs
- 15-yr quotas fixed for three fish species  

By Analia Murias
edit orial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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