Senator Rabindranath Quinteros. (Photo: Rabindranath Quinteros)
Round of hearings started on Fisheries Law amendments
CHILE
Thursday, April 19, 2018, 22:30 (GMT + 9)
The Senate’s Committee on Maritime Interests, Fisheries and Aquaculture is analyzing the amendment issue of the Fisheries Law, after the Government announced that it is working on a short law that will address, in a first instance, the shortcomings of the current legislation.
"While the Executive sends the modifications that are committed, we started a fruitful discussion with the leaders and federations to know their opinion so as to put the cards on the table as to what each organization thinks about the fisheries law and the need, not only to speed the amendments to this law, but also speed other projects that favour the fishery in general," said Senator Rabindranath Quinteros, president of the parliamentary body.
With the round of hearings, the Commission resumed the discussion of the bill - in the first constitutional procedure -, which introduces various amendments to the General Fisheries Law and Law No. 20,657, and it should be noted that it was agreed to continue with the hearings of the artisanal and industrial fishing sector, in the next session.
On the occasion, representatives of the National Council for the Defense of the Fishing Heritage of Chile A.G. (CONDEPP); of the National Confederation of Artisanal Fishermen of Chile (CONAPACH); and of the Association of Small-scale Artisanal Shipowners (AGAPESCA), presented their views on the legislation that regulates fishing and Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture Eduardo Riquelme took charge of these proposals.
Senator Quinteros stressed that "the fisheries law, as it was passed some time ago should be discussed, there is no compliance at the national level and many leaders of the artisanal fishing sector have complained about how they are treated by this law".
"Organizations complain a lot about quotas, about the irrationalities that there are in terms of what the industrial sector receives and what the fishing sector receives. Each organization has its point of view, that is why all the approaches must be compatible (...). The fishery at the regional level is not the same; for example, the fishery in the Los Lagos Region is not the same as the fishery in the northern regions, and we want to hear the realities of each region so that they are all interpreted in the fishing law," the legislator stressed.
On the other hand, Senator Carmen Gloria Aravena said that she hopes that the "Executive's commitment" will be fulfilled, appealing to improve the regulation.
"Here there is a commitment from the Undersecretary, to promptly settle these issues and come to present them to Congress, and there is also a commitment of participation that must be - this time from the bases, of the associations - because artisanal fishing is very important in terms of employment, of entrepreneurship in the country," explained the parliamentarian.
In another order, she regretted the fractionation of fishing and its disproportion, "what you have to study and understand," she said. "And if there was indeed an error, one of the few things that must be changed is the distribution and the fraction that was made to increase it, as far as possible," she said.
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
|