Beginning of agreement in La Picasa to end the “silverside war”

In the afternoon of this Wednesday, commercial fishermen met at the Venado Tuerto Node with the provincial government representative Roberto “Tito” Vergé and the delegate of the Ministry of Security in the southern region Nahuel Pasquinelli; the communal presidents of Aarón Castellanos, Diego de Alvear and San Gregorio; and police chiefs, with the aim of evaluating the situation of La Picasa lagoon with the start of the silverside season.

What is known as the “silverside war” is not a new situation, but has been occurring every year, with disputes between commercial fishermen and sport fishermen, with complaints and claims for non-compliance with current regulations, especially those related to days and times to carry out the activity and the quantity and characteristics of the pizzas carried.

The particularity that this year has is that there would be a principle of agreement to end this conflict, with stricter control of the communes that have a direct link with La Picasa, who in turn will have a direct intervention in the management of the two campsites that will be set up for sport fishing: one in Diego de Alvear and the other in Aarón Castellanos. Commercial fishermen will in turn act as guides, providing their own boats to enter the lagoon. All this work will be supported by security forces.

The detail of the role of each of the actors and action scheme will be established in an agreement that will be signed next Friday, May 31, with the objective of launching it in the month of June, with sport fishing being enabled during the first days of that month.

In this framework, the director of the Nodo Venado Tuerto, Roberto Vergé highlighted “the good predisposition of all the actors, both the communal presidents and the fishermen, because although there were some differences or anger, they decided to sit at a table to talk and seek consensus.”

From the meeting it was decided to begin to implement a provincial decree from 2010 that creates the figure of the Regional Fishing Committee, which will be made up of representatives of the communes bordering La Picasa, who will be in charge of exercising control over sport fishing and They will enforce the regulations that enable this activity from Fridays at 11 a.m. until Sunday, including some holidays; while from Monday to Friday at 11, it will be the turn of commercial fishing.

“The communes committed to creating the internal regulations of this Committee and they will be signed in the coming days. There it will be established that the control of what comes out of the lagoon will be in charge of these localities to avoid predation, with the support of the security forces,” Vergé completed.

The communal president of Diego de Alvear, Daniel Sagardía, contributed his views on this meeting, which he considered “very productive”, since an agreement in principle was achieved that will materialize in the coming days.

“We need to give a direction to these conflicts that we have been experiencing permanently in this region, especially in Diego de Alvear, which has the largest coastline in La Picasa for sport fishing. Something good came out of everyone that now we have to finish designing it, sign it and put it into practice,” he expressed.

The idea aims to have only two campsites for sport fishing, one in Diego de Alvear, which will be managed jointly with San Gregorio, and another in Aarón Castellanos. “The three communes are going to work on the descents enabled for this practice and the commercial fishermen will provide their boats to mobilize people,” he explained.

In turn, the president announced that different contact systems will be enabled (website, social networks, telephone numbers) for sport fishermen to communicate and coordinate their visits. “We are not going to let boats from outside enter, nor will we allow more than 100 boats per day, because the lagoon is not enough, knowing that its water level has dropped a lot and we want to avoid any type of accident,” he said. And he added: “Having commercial fishermen as a guide is also a peace of mind because the conditions are not there to go anywhere and there is no one better than them who know the area perfectly.”

The communal chief of Diego de Alvear stated that in the coming days they will also have to meet with the people who had been managing the campsites, since it will become a communal task. “I don’t think there are any drawbacks, but it is another step we have to take,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, he recalled that sport fishing in La Picasa is not allowed. “If everything goes as planned, it would be enabled in the first days of June,” he stated.