Hake capture. (Photo: CedePesca)
The Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) reported that the volume of hake (Merluccius hubbsi) returned to the reallocation fund, composed of different catch portions that shipowners estimate that they will not fish this year, has totalled 31,271 tonnes.
Thus, the Administration Reserve reached 9.8 per cent of the total allowable catch (TAC) set for 2014, that is to say, 322,000 tonnes.
In addition, the authority confirmed that since the beginning of September 12,242 tonnes of hake have been reassigned among the boats whose leaders had demanded larger portions of their quota to cover operational demands.
For the distribution of the allocations, the CFP followed the criterion to ensure at least a fishing operation performed for the target fish species, based on the average recent catches.
At the latest meeting on 30 October, the Council unanimously decided to approve the allocation of hake from the Administration Reserve (Article 8 of Resolution No. 23/09 CFP) for the annual period 2014 to all the applicants.
After this allocation, there is still a remaining balance to perform future distributions, depending on the needs of the fleet.
On the other hand, members of the Council initiated a debate on the flexibility of biological stops this year.
It is expected that the proposal of the Chamber of Large Scale Fishing Vessel Owners (CAABPA), the Argentine Chamber Fishing Industry (CAIPA) and the Association of Coastal Fishing Vessels (AEP) obtain a favorable response.
Resolution 26/09 states that boats will have to make an effective stop at port between 1 January and 24 December each year, of 50 days. And it specifies that the stoppage period may be divided into up to five days, with a duration that is not inferior to ten days each.
For this particular period, the chambers asked for a reduction of the full stop cycle to 30 days to be assessed and for the inclusion of the days from 20 to 31 December, when scarce fishing journeys are recorded.
This issue was also addressed during a meeting held in Buenos Aires by representatives of trade unions, the Undersecretary of Fisheries of the Nation, Miguel Bustamante; Deputy Minister of Labour, Naomi Rial; and the mayor of Mar del Plata, Gustavo Pulti.