The Chilean sea has been systematically plundered over the last two decades and jack mackerel stocks have been reduced to a critical level.
Jack mackerel stocks have diminished by 90 percent over the past 20 years and mackerel catches falling from 2.3 million tons to just 500,000 in just 10 years, according to a Greenpeace study.
The situation is critical, Samuel Leiva of Greenpeace told Radio Universidad de Chile. We only have 20 percent of the fish that we had back in 2000.
But the question of who is responsible has become a highly contested topic. The Chilean government has blamed China, Russia, and mainly Peru, despite new reports implicating Chile as the principal culprit.
According to a report by the Ninth Group of Scientific Work, between 2000 and 2010, 75 percent of catches of jack mackerel were made by Chilean boats. Furthermore, Chile’s National Fisheries Council (CNP) has consistently ignored scientific recommendations made by the Institute of Fisheries Development (IFOP) to reduce mackerel fishing quotas to a sustainable level.
These revelations come as the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the High Seas of the South Pacific Ocean (ORP) started on Monday in Santiago. Representatives from South America and the European Union are gathering to agree upon new fishing regulations.
In 2010, the IFOP proposed a quota of 800,000 tons, but CNP rejected the amount, setting their limit at 1.4 million tons. Thirty individuals, 17 of whom have commercial interests in the mackerel industry, make up the National Fisheries Council.
One of the core problems is the lack of firm regulation in international waters. Catch quotas are of little use international waters, Felipe Moncada, CEO of Asipes, the largest fishing association in the south central area, told CIPER. Every boat that arrives can draw whatever they want, without limit.
Chile’s economy minister, Pablo Longueira, meanwhile, maintains that other countries are to blame.
Foreign overfishing has brought the species to the brink of extinction, Longueira told local press. We are very disappointed about the low level of compliance from several states.
Longueira cited evidence that Peruvian vessels have far out-fished the quota assigned to them.
According to Chile’s National Fisheries Society, Peruvian boats caught around 160,000 tons of mackerel last year, which was more than 5.8 times the amount agreed in accordance with recommendations from the ORP’s scientific committee.
Faced with these accusations, the president of Peru’s National Fisheries Society, Richard Inurritegui, told La Tercera, This is a misunderstanding because Peru has complied with all agreed interim measures.
The conference, which runs until Feb. 3, brings together 15 states and representatives from the European Union. It is hoped that the meeting will set out rigid parameters regarding fishing quotas and reduce the maximum catch to 390,000 tons.
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