As stated in CFP Minutes No. 9/2024the Federal Fisheries Council receives a note from the province of Río Negro, which bases its considerations on the serious situation that the fishing sector in our province is going through, and we reiterate the request made to the Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) on June 12, 2024, requesting a social reserve of 3,500 tons of shrimp for the jurisdiction of the Province of Río Negro.
Provincial Decree No. 480/2023 has declared a fishing emergency in the San Matías Gulf. The studies carried out by CIMAS and INIDEP during their recent shrimp resource survey campaign have shown insufficient concentrations to sustain fishing activity. This situation, the letter reports, seriously affects the economy and social well-being of workers linked, both directly and indirectly, to this activity.
Consequently, and after evaluating the presentation, the CFP has decided, by majority, (7-3, Buenos Aires and Tierra del Fuego voted against and Chubut abstained), to approve the request, with the following points:
to) Creation of a Social Reserve: A social reserve of 3,500 tons of shrimp is established for the current season in waters under national jurisdiction, destined for vessels designated by the Province of Río Negro, who must expressly notify the Enforcement Authority of Law 24,922.
b) Exclusive Download: Unloading must be carried out exclusively in the Ports of San Antonio Oeste and Este.
c) Processing in Plant: The catches must be processed in plants located on land within the Province of Río Negro.
d) Exception to the CFP Resolution No. 7/2018 : Article 10 of the fishery administration measures approved by CFP Resolution No. 7/2018 will not apply to this social reserve, without prejudice to the application of the other measures.
and) Fishing Permits: Vessels must have fishing permits from the jurisdiction where the catch will be made.
It should be noted that the Representation of the Province of Buenos Aires has explicitly expressed its negative vote, arguing “that a social quota of this type, of this volume and under this instance of declaration of fishing emergency for a province that does not have its own fleet for its capture, with few boats in conditions to go out to the shrimp harvest and with few plants in conditions to process a resource like shrimp, is excessive and counterproductive. We do not find in the form of this request neither opportunity, nor merit, nor convenience. It even plays to the detriment of the Buenos Aires fishery, affecting the fleets and the processing plants with investments already installed. excessive and counterproductive for a province without its own fleet suitable for the capture and with few capable processing plants. They point out that this measure harms the Buenos Aires fishery and its investments. «.
Scandalous distribution of shrimp under strict compliance with government directives. 3,500 tons were granted for Rio Negro.
Faced with the astonishment of such a large and unexpected measure, on the part of the fishing environment and mainly in the area of the Chambers of the sector, the news had already spread on Wednesday night, like wildfire; To the surprise, yesterday morning the telephone numbers of different representatives of the province, among them, that of Lic. Carla Seain and that of Dr. Carlos D. Libermanwho confirmed to this media, that “since I stopped being Undersecretary of Fisheries, my phone has never been so busy during the whole morning today (yesterday morning), minutes before a vote within the CFP that anointed the decision to grant 3500 tons to Rio Negro, (without multipliers) for social purposes due to the terrible situation of the sector in that province, which ultimately ends up being another legal outrage, since the social failure resulting from the low biomass within the San Matías Gulf, does not support or justify such a measure. The most prominent legal specialists agreed that it is a violation of legal security since it borders on the covert generation of fishing permits being in essence a vulgar”more social plan”.
Such manifestos end up disconcerting the work of the Undersecretary of Aquatic Resources and Fisheries, with a thorough previous performance, in search of transparency and legality and adherence to the Law, within the collegiate entity.
Someone, consulted by this medium, paraphrasing a famous president of the United States of America, said: “It’s politics, dude!”, referring to the fact that there was a call from a high level of the government in charge of articulating the Government-Deputies negotiation, in view of the vote this morning on the Law of Bases in the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, and this distribution would have been an insurance of change and consideration for favors for winning positively with the vote of that province.
The fact is still very serious, because it mixes political issues with biological and operational issues, typical of an activity put under scrutiny by this government, which ultimately does not show with its actions the path it proclaims towards freedom, transparency and elimination of bureaucratic obstacles. Fishing is once again a bargaining chip for petty sectoral, political and governmental interests, exempting the President of the Federal Fisheries Council from all responsibility, who had to endure a shot in the arm by accepting the directive as a consequence of a phone call from the main political operator within the National Congress, suggesting giving positive direction to the concerns of the province of Río Negro, which together with the shameful Fund for Allocation for Productive Development FAFP just a year ago, (judicialized to date with strong legal grounds), end up obscuring a thriving, dynamic and job-generating activity that contributes more than 1,700 million genuine dollars to the national economy.
In the meantime, we are still using the calculator doing the math to see how the very few processing plants in San Antonio Oeste, without specialized labor in this species or volumes to process that amount of shrimp, absorb such a volume…
