News, Events, Briefings and More…

Roundup

News, events, briefings and more…

PERU

Anchovies or sardines?

Anchovies can be sardines if tinned! Well, at least so believes Peru’s Production Minister, Rafael Rey, who has sent a request to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to modifyurgentlythe classification criteria used for the exports of canned sardines, because they represent barriers restricting access to international markets.

Rey explained: “Canned sardines produced in our country from the species Engralius ringens (locally known as anchoveta) are being classified for export under the tariff certification Code No. 1604.19. This corresponds to ‘other (prepared and preserved) fish products, instead of Code No. 1604.13, which corresponds to sardines. This is blocking our entry to export markets, in contravention of what was agreed between the Codex Alimentarius and the World Trade Organization (WTO), which allows canned sardines to be prepared from various species including anchoveta, he said.

A draft Supreme Decree has been sent to the Economy Minister that modifies the tariff code, so that the anchoveta species can be used for producing canned sardines for export. This will enable Peru’s fish exporters to benefit from advantages on the international market, with no additional cost to the Peruvian State. At the same time, it is intended to reinforce Peru’s position, where the case for labelling these as ‘canned sardines’ has been successfully defended in international forums. In 2002, the Appellate Body of the WTO acknowledged that Codex Standard 94 is a “relevant international standard under Article 2.4 of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. This standard allows preserved sardines or sardine-type products to be prepared from 21 fish species.

Yet, the Peruvian customs authorities have refused to accept that anchoveta can be exported when labelled as ‘canned sardine’. They insist that the label must tally with the export declaration form and the code used there.

This identifies the product and refers to the original contents (anchoveta), as demanded by the Harmonized System (of Tariffs). For them, this takes priority over all other agreements, including the WTO and Codex Alimentarius.

In recent years, anchoveta has comprised more than 90 per cent of Peru’s 6-10-mn tonne fish catch, with 99 per cent of the catch being reduced to fishmeal and oil. In 2006, more than 6 mn tonnes of anchoveta were landed in Peru, producing around 1 mn tonnes of fishmeal, fetching around US$1,600 mn in exports.

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

Redmanglar International

Founded in August 2001 in Choluteca, Honduras, Redmanglar International is a Latin American network to protect mangroves and coastal communities. Its main objectives are to defend mangroves and coastal-marine ecosystems against neglect and damage, and guarantee their vitality and that of the traditional user communities who live in harmony with them.

Recently, Redmanglar International gathered over 70 delegates from its 10 member countries and international observers for its Third General Assembly, which took place from 8 to 13 October 2007 in Cuyutlán, Colima State, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, adjoining the mangrove-rich Cuyutlán lagoon. The meeting was hosted by Bios Iguana A.C., who in the militant spirit of the network, noted, on the 40th anniversary of Ché Guevara’s execution on 9 October 1967 in Bolivia, “If Ché were alive, mangroves would thrive (Si el Che viviera, el mangle defendiera).

The weeklong meeting discussed the international, regional and national contexts that affect mangrove ecosystems and coastal communities, and reviewed the situations in the 10 member countries of the network. It denounced the globalization processes through which marine coastal areas are being appropriated by economic interests, with little consideration for environmental conservation or the lives and livelihoods of local communities. It also highlighted the importance of community-based approaches to defending and managing coastal marine ecosystems, and the failure of national laws and law enforcement in providing adequate protection.

The meeting closed with the election of ASPROCIG (the Producers and Sustainable Community Development Association of Cienaga Grande in Bajo Sinú, Colombia) as the new Executive Secretariat. ASPROCIG takes over from C-CONDEM of Ecuador.

Box

ICELAND

Research participation

Fishing vessel owners want to participate more in marine research in Iceland’s waters and take part in making decisions regarding the fishing industry. A professor of fish science says more money should be put into research, reports Iceland Review.

“I totally support the Marine Research Institute’s claims that the situation is very serious. […] We have to comply with the Institute’s recommendations for the next fishing season and make a long-term plan on how to organize research and how to harness the cod stock in the future, Gudrún Marteinsdóttir, a professor in fish science at the University of Iceland’s Biology Institute, told Fréttabladid.

“Regarding cod it is very important to increase research on stock types, spread, behaviour, the biological history of subspecies, spawning territory and where the fish mature, Marteinsdóttir continued, suggesting ISK 70 to 100 mn (USD 1.1 to 1.6 mn, EUR 830,000 to 1.2 mn) should be spent on investigating cod each year.

“I believe the industry should participate to a much greater extent in both research and decisions on the total quota. It is best that those who have the most interests participate more in research, Fridrik J. Arngrímsson, the managing director of the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, told Fréttabladid.

Arnbjörg Sveinsdóttir, the director of the fishing industry committee of the Althingi parliament said increased participation of fishing vessel owners should be considered.

POEM

Sea calm

How still,

How strangely still

The water is today,

It is not good

For water

To be so still that way.

Langston Hughes

verbatim

“Living with the fishermen quite intimately for some months, I could not help being deeply impressed by the quality of job satisfaction that they get out of their involvement in the hazardous and strenuous technological pursuit.

BIKASH RAYCHAUDHURY IN ‘THE MOON AND THE NET: STUDY OF A TRANSIENT COMMUNITY OF FISHERMEN IN JAMBUDWIP’

Aquaculture in Sustainable Development

The global production of fish from aquaculture has grown rapidly during the past four decades, contributing significant quantities to the world’s supply of fish for human consumption. Aquaculture now accounts for nearly half (45 per cent) of the world’s food and this increase is expected to reach 50 per cent in 2015. Started primarily as an Asian freshwater food production system, aquaculture has now spread to all continents, encompassing all aquatic environments and utilizing a range of aquatic species.

Table 1: Top 20 food-fish aquaculture-producing countries

 Source: FAO

Table 2: Aquaculture production (volume and value) in 2005 in different regions of the world