Chile’s new Fisheries Act No. 20657 has just been published in Diario Oficial. It amends the sustainability scope of aquatic resources, the access to industrial and artisanal fishing business, and the regulations for research and monitoring.
After a year of processing, “now comes a strong technical work to implement the Act and to publicize its implications in all fishing villages of the country,” said the head of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca), Pablo Galilea.
The Secretary noted that the focus of the new regulation is the sustainability of fisheries resources.
“The new national law incorporates the criteria for advancing the development of fisheries that have been shared and validated by NGOs such as Greenpeace, Oceana and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and key industry players,” he said.
Galilea also mentioned the creation of the Institute for Development of Artisanal and Small Scale Aquaculture (Idepa), “a cherished dream of the artisanal fishing.”
In this regard, he said the Institute “will provide loans and grants for the development of production in both sectors, in areas of product diversification and value added of fisheries resources, with a major focus on algae industry growth, which is often put aside “.
The law states that this initiative must be presented in May, Subpesca reported.
Likewise, the Undersecretary of Fisheries recalled the commitment to present a bill –within six months — to create incentives and bonuses to promote seaweed repopulation and farming in Chile.
Future decisions — concerning fishing quotas, catch minimum sizes and biological and harvesting closures will be made based on scientific and biological criteria.
In addition, the bill provides for the division of quotas between the artisanal and industrial fisheries, agreed at the fishing negotiation table for the 12 major fisheries.
When the new Act comes into force, the artisanal sector will have 55 per cent of the national landings, while the industrial sector will decrease to 45 per cent its participation in the total value. This means a transfer of quotas from the industrial to artisanal sector in resources valued at USD 50 million a year, including shrimp and cod biddings.
In addition, the new Act provides patent payment exemption for the 761 Benthic Resources Management and Exploitation Areas (Amerb) existing in the country, the possibility of small-scale farming in up to 40 per cent of the area and a greater penalty for theft crime.
According to the new regulations, every five years, the effectiveness and implementation of conservation and fisheries management shall be evaluate.
Under the Fisheries Act the first mile catch is reserved for boats less than 12 meters (11,805 vessels out of a total of 13,073 artisanal ships), and the five miles protection for artisanal fleet is kept and extends to the south of Chiloe island.
Furthermore, 15 meter- length artisanal vessels, purse seine boats over 12 meters long and transport ships are required to have a satellite positioning system. Units intended to benthic resources are exempt.
The satellite positioner enforcement will take place two years after the Act is published. The measure is expected to protect effectively the first mile for the smaller vessels of the artisanal fleet.
Moreover, the Undersecretary of Fisheries will be empowered to redistribute from one region to another, a portion of the unspent balance of the regional catch quota, to other regions where there is lack of resources.
The new regulation provides a period of 20 years for tradable fishing licenses of the industry sector, which are renewable and have causes for cancelling, while the artisanal sector continues with indefinite fishing permits.
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