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On Friday, fishing for shrimp was banned in the waters of San Jorge Gulf, under jurisdiction of Chubut. (Photo: Stock File/Inidep/FIS)
Shrimp fishery banned in San Jorge Gulf
ARGENTINA
Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 02:30 (GMT + 9)
The Ministry of Fisheries of Chubut decided to ban fishing for shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) by the entire freezer beamer and fresh product shrimper fleet in the high seas within the San Jorge Gulf.
The decision, taken last Friday, provides that operation vessels may fill their holds but once they have carried out their landings, they may not return to fish in those waters from Chubut.
The provincial government decided to apply this closure one day after the government, fisheries officials, and deputies from Chubut agreed on a definition of the National Plan of Shrimp in Buenos Aires, where they also analysed the fisheries sector situation in order to improve current conditions.
The meeting was attended by the Fisheries Secretary from Chubut, Hugo Stecconi; the head of the Undersecretary of Fisheries of the Nation, Nestor Bustamante; the Minister of Agriculture of the Nation, Norberto Yauhar; the deputies of Chubut, Carlos Eliceche and Nancy González; the Mayor of Puerto Madryn, Ricardo Sastre; the Secretary General of the Food Industry Workers’ Union (STIA), Luis Nuñez; and the undersecretary of Labour of the Province, Fabián López.
"We have agreed on a new fishing plan that allows us to develop a model to compensate for the inequalities taking place in the different areas where the major product of Patagonia, the shrimp, was found," said Stecconi after the meeting.
"This takes place in the context of a national plan, which we have set a deadline of 30 days to define, take it to the Legislature and to all the places where it can be worked on," the official added.
When on Friday Stecconi travelled to Europe to participate in the 20° edition of the European Seafood Exposition, held in Brussels, fisheries managers in the province were still claiming an urgent meeting to assess the situation of the shrimp -- early closure of the fishery -- and the industry -- high operating costs—Revista Puerto reported.
"They call for an emergency board to address the fisheries sector, and the companies are left out. If the priority is to hold jobs, it should be understood that no companies mean no jobs," complained an entrepreneur in the sector.
And he added, referring to the Shrimp National Plan, "Now it will not be able to fish until the national waters are opened, all the boats stopped, and it means that the companies have no income, and under these conditions we want to announce Governor Martín Buzzi that the companies will not be able to negotiate wages."
The shrimp fishery lasted only one month in Chubut. The fishery was opened in mid-March, after repeated requests from the companies that have processing plants in the province.
Last week, rumor has it that there was some kind of partial closure. It was spread then that those reports of the observers on board recommended the departure of the fleet due to the presence of large numbers of hake (Merluccius hubbsi).
Related article:
- Consensus reached on new shrimp fishing plan
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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