April 18, 2012

The National Fisheries Council had approved the quota increase of common sardine, proposed by the Undersecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca), from 605,000 tonnes to 1,050,000 tonnes.

The decision was taken on second call, as in the previous session the necessary quorum was not reached to approve or reject the measure. The session was chaired by Juan Luis Ansoleaga, Sernapesca national director because the Undersecretary of Fisheries was in Aysén.

The initial quota of common sardine assigned to the macrozone Region V-X was set at 605,000 tonnes in late 2011. However, the recent results of the hydroacoustic assessment made in January this year by the Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP) showed an increasing trend in population levels, as it was explained by the Undersecretary of Fisheries, Pablo Galilea, on a telephone conversation from Aysén:

"The guideline of the current administration is to ensure the sustainability of resources, which is why in 2010 and 2011 the Council has been requested to perform an overall reduction in quotas. Therefore, we welcome the latest study indicators provided by IFOP assessment cruise, which determined the healthy condition in which the common sardine biomass is, with exploitation levels that do not affect the sustainability of the resource in the short term, which supported the proposal of the precautionary quota increase."

This method for establishing the sardine quota is part of the normal process of a dynamic management plan of the common sardine and anchovy, which was set given the high variability in the abundance of these resources. The two fisheries status is to be reviewed again mid-year through the IFOP assessment cruise.

Galilea recalled that a new management measure adopted by this Government has been the determination of closed seasons. Recently, a biological ban on the common sardine and on the anchovy in the area between the regions of Valparaíso and Los Lagos was set and it was into force for two weeks, from March 27 to April 9.