More than 150 Chinese entrepreneurs and officials, along with representatives of the fishing industry from Argentina participated in a recent workshop in China as part of the activities under the Chinese-Argentinean fisheries cooperation.
The ‘Seminar on Argentinean Fisheries and Aquaculture,’ which was held in the city of Guiyang, was chaired by the head of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Néstor Miguel Bustamante; and the Director General of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture of China (MOA), Zhao Xingwu.
The event was organized in conjunction with the Chinese Overseas Fisheries Association.
China aims to deepen the knowledge of the laws in force in Argentina for the marine fisheries sector and aquaculture developments.
The programme included presentations on the areas and ways of fishing in Argentinean waters, the main species caught, the regulatory framework for marine fisheries, federal management in the fisheries affairs, the management of the major fisheries of interest to China (squid, shrimp and white croaker) and the regulatory framework for aquaculture in Argentina.
“This seminar is very important for everyone because it allows Chinese officials and entrepreneurs to know the content and operation of our legal rules on fisheries, which are the strengths of our industry, to then decide their production projects in our country,” Bustamante pointed out.
“The progress made to date on fisheries cooperation between the two countries have been made possible due to the work, reliability and the achievements made by the respective authorities in the framework of cooperation between the two countries,” the official added.
Meanwhile, Xingwu emphasized that despite being two very distant countries, Argentina and China are “like neighbours, connected by the sea, connected by the heart of the fishing sectors.”
Furthermore, he stressed that the joint effort can make it possible to achieve “a major growth in the sector and in bilateral trade.”
According to the data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), last year Argentinean fisheries exports to China grew by 77 per cent in value and 79 per cent in volume compared to 2012.
About 67,940 tonnes of seafood were sent to the Chinese market for USD 137.45 million, mainly shrimp (USD 70.8 million), squid (USD 43 million), fishmeal (USD 3.26 million), frozen fish (USD 18 million) and fillets (USD 866,000).
The seminar was attended by the president of the Chamber of Fish and Freezer Shipowners of Argentina, Guillermo Jacob; entrepreneurs Federico Angeleri, Francesco Lisi and Juan Redini, representatives of the firms Pesquera Veraz SA, Food Arts SA and Pesquera Buenavista SA, respectively; Omar Odarda, from the Agricultural Counselor at the Embassy of Argentina in China; and the technical teamof the Agriculture Secretariat.
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