Hake processing plant. (Photo: K.Falch/Copyright: FIS)
Govt and fisheries sector agree on hake management plan
CHILE
Thursday, July 21, 2016, 21:50 (GMT + 9)
Representatives of artisanal fisheries, industrial sector, processing plants, SERNAPESCA and the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture have agreed on a hake fishery management plan, whose purpose is to recover the resource and rescue it from the collapsing status in which it is located.
Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture Raul Súnico said that this management plan is the result of hard work that the government and the fisheries sector as a whole have developed over nearly two years.
During this time, a detailed analysis of the fishery status has been performed, including biological, ecological, social and economic aspects.
Sunico added that, since management plans are binding, that is, their provisions are obligatory, each of the targets includes actions, tasks, responsibilities and deadlines that must be met by all stakeholders involved in the fishery.
Some of the management measures agreed are:
- Maintaining or taking the fishery to the maximum sustainable yield level;
- Minimizing the interaction of the fleets in shared areas;
- Achieving effective control of all landings of the fishery;
- Getting effective control of the value chain (capture, landing, transport, processing, distribution and marketing);
- Maximizing employment opportunities and fisheries diversification.
The plan also establishes measures to reduce and mitigate discards in this fishery.
One of the main objectives is to take the common hake stock biomass levels from 20 per cent or above its virgin spawning biomass in five years (from the exhaustion status to over-exploitation one).
Once overcome the exhaustion status, it seeks to bring or keep the common hake stock to biomass levels of 40 per cent of its virgin spawning biomass in seven years (from the over-exploitation status to the fully exploited one).
The hake is a demersal species found on the coast of Chile from Antofagasta to Cheap canal in the Aysen region, but most of the biomass is between Coquimbo and Valdivia at depths that are lower than 400 metres.
The main landing ports are Coquimbo in Region IV, Valparaiso and San Antonio in Region V, Bucalemu in Region VI, Duao, Maguillines and Pelluhue in the VII and Talcahuano in Region VIII.
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