Giant squid and illex squid are the most important species targeted by foreign fleet outside the EEZ

Squid fishing outside 200 miles: Maritime Interests Commission and Foreign Ministry will work on regulatory document

CHILE
Thursday, October 29, 2020, 21:00 (GMT + 9)

Generating a regulatory framework to deal with illegal fishing was the main agreement between the Foreign Ministry and the Commission on Maritime Interests, Fisheries and Aquaculture, a body that focused on analyzing the presence in South Pacific waters of an important Chinese fishing fleet. Within this framework, he learned about the preparations and actions that national authorities can take.

Regulatory framework

After the presentations of the Foreign Ministry, the Directemar and the Undersecretariat of Fisheries, which clarified that there has been no illegal fishing in the national exclusive economic zone, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrés Allamand, proposed a joint work between the Executive and the Commission, as a technical and specialized entity in the matter, "to have by the end of November a regulatory framework for the action that Chile must develop in matters of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, containing short and long-term objectives" .

Image: courtesy senado.cl

The parliamentary instance, chaired by Senator Ximena Rincón, accepted the proposal and made the effort to join the Library of National Congress.

Transversally the protection of our heritage sea was valued, through the different institutions.

Likewise, the legislators warned of the reduction of resources for the Undersecretariat of Fisheries in the Budget Law 2021, for which, as they advanced, they will make the respective efforts to avoid that tasks are affected, such as that of inspection in the high seas.

Image: courtesy senado.cl

International framework

From the Ministry, it was highlighted among the relevant points of the matter that: deep sea fishing requires better regulation “and this is a matter that has been on the table for a long time, but has complexities, the articulation of different interests and that different countries converge. Chile has actively participated in all regulatory bodies, with an active and leading role, ”explained the Chancellor.

Regarding the eastern flag fleet, it was clarified that the institution that deals with this matter is the South Pacific Fisheries Management Organization, of which Chile is a part, but only 14 countries participate since it originated in 2012.

This highlights “the fragility of regulation in the high seas, which only regulates horse mackerel and not cuttlefish or giant squid (dosidicus gigas), which is what is generating all this activity. The idea is that by 2021 we can already have protocols in which the different fleets are obliged to report their catches, ”added Minister Allamand.

Image: courtesy senado.cl

It should be noted that it should be noted that in the framework of the Conference of South Pacific Countries, which comes in 1952, there is an active work of the Foreign Ministry in terms of promoting a regional action plan against illegal fishing that is based on: the joint monitoring of fleets; establish sustainable fishing policies; and the improvement of inspection in ports.

Control

From the General Directorate of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine, Directemar, its director, Vice Admiral Ignacio Mardones, clarified that “there has been a controversy carried out by the media in a dispute between the United States and China, but when it was said that the fleet was off the coast of Galapagos, never entered the waters of Ecuador. There are things that have been said and that are not. The fleet has not entered the exclusive economic zone of either Peru or Chile ”.

The Vice Admiral agreed that the key to avoiding illegal fishing lies in the Regional Organization for Fisheries Management of the South Pacific, added to an integrated program of action.

However, he detailed the important inspection of Directemar on the high seas, with the help of planes and submarines.

Meanwhile, the director of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service, Alicia Gallardo, highlighted the active and accurate participation, added to the coordination of all the organizations involved and gave way to a live dispatch from the satellite unit, where it was possible to appreciate in detail and in real time the activity in the waters of the South Pacific.

For his part, the Undersecretary of Fisheries, Román Zelaya, stressed that greater regulation is expected in the event of a new step by a Chinese fishing fleet "where not only horse mackerel is regulated, but also cuttlefish," he said.

Source: Senate Chile

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