As per the views of experts and association of small-scale fishers the reduction in catch quotas adopted in response to overfishing and plunging stocks of key species, particularly jack mackerel, causes unemployment problem in the fishing industry. Alex Muñoz, the executive director of the international marine conservation group Oceana, told that Chile is one of the world’s leading fishing nations, but unfortunately this country has not administered its marine resources in such a way as to make the activity sustainable.
Jack mackerel is primarily used in Chile to produce fish meal and fish oil, although it is also exported canned or frozen. The National Fisheries Council, made up of authorities and representatives of the fishing industry, set the 2010 quota at 1.3 million tonnes of jack mackerel. Fisheries Under-Secretariat at the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism informed that by November 2010 only 450,000 tonnes had been caught.
Oceana complained in August that since 2003, the National Fisheries Council had set higher annual quotas for jack mackerel than were recommended by the scientists at the Institute for Fisheries Development. Muñoz said that the new quota for this year is 315,000 tonnes of jack mackerel.
The president of the Association of Industrial Fishing (ASIPES), Roberto Izquierdo, said while addressing the press that 2011 will be as complicated as 2010, especially due to the decline in jack mackerel stocks. He explained that while fish freezing and canning plants in south-central Chile were active 100 days a year on average in previous years, only 45 days of activity can be expected in 2011. The jack mackerel industry, including the fishing fleet and processing plants, generates more than 10,000 direct jobs.
CONAPACH is demanding that the authorities recognise the real conditions in each fishery, and design specific measures for each one. Bustamante said CONAPACH is “conversing with the government” about the difficulties faced by the industry.
