Record shows that Argentine ports received 9,246.4 tons of common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) in the first 42 days of the current year, 60 percent less than the 23,200 tons for the same period a year ago. Of that total, 8.796,7 tons were from the southern stock and 449.7 tons from the north according to the Secretariat of Fisheries, a dependency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MINAGRI).
Industry insiders believe that the reduction of total landings is due to economic and biological questions. It is said that many vessels began working later than usual after the Holidays [in late 2009] and that caused a slow start. A constant increase in costs structure was registered and several shipowners waited for the price of hake to increase before setting sail, which finally happened at the end of last week.
But experts said that there is another reason behind such a low catch which is common hake behaved “evasively” in the sea, which resulted in low yields and storage holds at 50 percent of their capacity. The decision adopted by the CFP allows the fishing effort to increase by 83,000 tons on the first stock and cut back by 11,000 tons on the second, compared to this year.
Meanwhile, an investigation carried out by the oil company Pan American Energy (PAE), at the behest of the Santa Cruz Fisheries Sub-Secretariat, contends that the capture of common hake has spiked in the San Jorge Gulf fishing-ground.
