The accredited Spanish media “Europa Azul” today titled “Hard blow for the Galician sector with the closure of fishing in Malvinas. The cancellation of the second squid campaign in Malvinas waters has been a serious setback for the Galician fleet, paralysing the 16 large trawlers that participate in this fishery every year and that have already moved to the harsh sea of the southwestern Atlantic to make a profit from fishing.
Read: from illegally appropriating Argentine fishing resources in the Malvinas, they are also going for the equally illegal fishing of migratory resources originating in the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone on the high seas. And it is an illegal capture (UNCLOS, articles 27, 63, 64, 87, 92, 94 and 116 to 119) because the Galician vessels do not have the presence of the Spanish State; they do not carry out studies to determine the “maximum sustainable catches” and they harm the interests of third states, such as Argentina and Uruguay. In addition, in fishing in the Malvinas they violate Res. 31/49 of the United Nations and articles 4, 5 and 21 to 23 of Law 24.922.
Spain, in question, has recognized Argentine sovereignty in the Malvinas and the corresponding waters; however, it is the main British fishing partner in the Malvinas and the one who managed the exception in Brexit for trade with the United Kingdom, so that the Malvinas catches enter the European Union without tariffs, in open and unfair competition with fishing products that originate from companies, even those with Spanish capital based in the Argentine mainland. The Motherland -cunningly- already in 2005 during the Treaty of Lisbon, it had accepted that the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and Antarctica would be incorporated into the European Union as British overseas territories.
We must be wary of this putative mother and, even more so, of our government that turns a blind eye to such a huge ecocide. With the 250 thousand tons that are extracted every year from the waters of the Malvinas, without evaluating those that are discarded, estimated at 30% of the catch, we could provide the best daily protein to three million Argentine children and adolescents all year round, contributing to eradicating the shameful poverty in our country.
The specialist media outlet “Europa Azul” indicates that the closure of the fishing ground “is due to the alarming results of the surveys carried out, which have yielded the second worst estimate of biomass since 2008, well below the established safety threshold” and that the fishermen, with respect to the new seasons, would have their hopes “only placed on an eventual recovery of the state of the fishery; which translates into a new irony: trusting that nature will correct what management has not managed to foresee” ; which would be demonstrating the British inability (FIFD) to weigh the availability of the resource and the damage that has been caused to the Argentine ecosystem, which as we know, is unique and indivisible; while in the European Union, on the other hand, progress is being made to make the capture of its community waters sustainable, contrary to the fishing carried out by its vessels in international waters on the resources originating from the coastal States.
The Galician shipyards of Vigo and Marín are lamenting the economic impact that this abrupt closure will have on them, as they have invested 240 million Euros, and therefore the lack of catches will prevent or make it difficult for them - although the Galicians are good at crying to their governments - to "renew the fleet with the latest generation units" and, it is remarkable, with the frivolity with which they proclaim it, because they finance the construction of fishing vessels based on appropriating Argentine fishing resources, while Argentine businessmen have serious difficulties in financing their vessels in national shipyards.
Some South Americans will say: “the modernization of Spanish ships is done with ours” and “the squids in the main square of Madrid and in a large part of Europe are Argentine” it is time for the Argentine and Spanish governments to end this inequity and contempt for Argentine sovereignty.
The Spanish also refer to the increase in the costs of shipbuilding, fuel and especially to the rise in illegal licenses granted to them in the Islands; which, although they may be expensive, are cheap, taking into account that the Galicians are carrying out spurious extraction, to the detriment of Argentine rights and their biological, economic and food interests. How important will the Galician catches in the Malvinas be! That, the media indicates: "it is expected that the shortage of squid in the market will drive up prices, deepening the crisis for both companies and consumers."
On the other hand, the Association of Companies of the Islands and the illegal Legislative Assembly are analyzing a system of granting licenses that would imply a new increase for the fleets that operate in these waters, keeping an important part of the fishing effort to sustain the administrative structure of the archipelago and the necessary contributions for the basic infrastructure of the islands and, this, would be demonstrating the economic fragility of the islanders, which leads us to insist that Argentina must pressure the Spanish government to stop its vessels from fishing in the Malvinas and sanction the companies if this does not happen, something that they should have done at least since 1998 when Law 24.922 came into force.
Likewise, the Argentine government must reconsider the granting of new permits, quotas and authorizations to national companies with Spanish capital as long as the Spanish government does not prohibit fishing in the Malvinas and the capture of migratory species originating in the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone on the high seas.
There are mothers and there are others who are better off weaning.
Dr. Cesar Augusto Lerena
South Atlantic and Fisheries expert - former Secretary of State.
President of the Center for Latin American Fisheries Studies (CESPEL).
President of the Agustina Lerena Foundation.
Web: cesarlerena.com.ar
August 20, 2024
