Chilean Southern Hake Fishery Improvement Project Archive Date: March 2014

The Chilean Southern Hake FIP was transitioned from SFP to CeDePesca in March 2014. The following FIP report reflects the status of the FIP at the time of transition. The current FIP public report can be found on CeDePesca’s website, here.

Species: Chilean southern hake (Merluccius australis)

FIP Scope/Scale: Fishery level

Fishery Location: , Region X, for map see Southern hake - Pacific Patagonian

FIP Participants: Federacion Hualaihue (Artisanal Fishers Federation) Artisanal Fishermen Association of (Asociacion Gremial de Pescadores Artesanales y Gremios Afines)

FIP Stakeholders: • National Confederations of Artisanal Fishermen (CONAPACH and CONFEPACH) • FIPES (Industrial Federation for Southern Fisheries) • SUBPESCA • National Fisheries Council • IFOP (Instituto de Fomento Pesquero – public research institute) • CEPES (Centro de Estudios Pesqueros – privately funded research institute)

Sustainability Information: See Summary and Sustainability Info tabs in this link Southern hake - Pacific Patagonian

Date Publicly Announced: 2010

FIP Stage: 4, FIP is delivering improvement in policies or practices

Current Improvement Recommendations: • TAC must follow scientific recommendation • Management Plan with recovery goals and strategies must be implemented • Observers-on-board program must be reinforced in order to collect fishing practices and environmental impacts information

Background:

This fishery presently accounts for approximately 21,000 tonnes annually, split between the artisanal sector (with close to 5,000 fishermen, accounting since 2013 for 60 percent of the total allowable catch (TAC) and landings) and the industrial sector. Industrial capture is by bottom trawling and industrial longline. Artisanal capture is by vertical longlines. SFP is associated on this FIP with CeDePesca, a South American NGO whose mission is to work toward socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable fisheries. SFP is working with its major buyer and supplier partners to support improvement efforts, while CeDePesca is focused on the work with the Chilean fishing sector.

Fisheries market:While small portions of artisanal production are used for local markets, particularly in the gastronomy sector, most of artisanal and all industrial production is exported. Historically, the most significant market for Chilean southern hake has been Spain (around 80 percent of exports of frozen fillets and headed and gutted (H&G) product, 100 percent of whole fresh fish before the financial crisis of 2009), but now the market trend is to be more reduced and diversified with some incipient exports to the US.

The beginning of the FIP:This FIP arose as a sub-project of the Chilean Hoki FIP when it became clear that one of the key issues was the interaction of the hoki fishery with the southern hake population during the spawning season. One of the main difficulties to address this interaction is the traditional conflict between artisanal and industrial catchers, with the latter blamed for using trawling gears as a main cause for fisheries depletion.Key problems/issues:Landings have decreased over the past few years and TACs have consistently been established at 10 percent over the scientific recommendation until 2011, when managers started to reduce the gap. For 2012, that gap will be reduced to 5 percent in the most optimistic scenario. Reproductive biomass is slightly over the limit reference point, but no recovery plan is in place, so under MSC’s scoring methodology the status of the stock would fail (with a score of under 60 points).

TAC for 2013 is 21,000 tonnes, a 9-percent decrease from 2012.

The stock in 2012 has been estimated at 25 percent of SSB0, which means overfished but not overexploited according to the criteria of Chilean scientists. The risk of getting an overexploited status is low, though the risk for SSB2013 being lower than SSB2012 is 50 percent (high).

Other problems in the fishery include the high proportion of juveniles in harvests and the lack of information about environmental impacts. Fortunately, as of the beginning of 2012, research quotas are no longer being used for commercial purposes.By the end of 2011, the artisanal and industrial sectors had achieved an agreement allocating 60 percent of the TAC to the artisanal fishery. This agreement was ratified at the government level in the new fishery law.CeDePesca and SFP have signed a FIP agreement with Federacion Hualaihue, an artisanal fishermen organization with around 1,600 members and 2,400 tonnes of landings in the Los Lagos region (around 8 percent of the national TAC). The aforementioned partner organization is interested in getting market diversification for their product. In March 2013, a new partner, the Artisanal Fishermen Association (Asociacion Gremial de Pescadores Artesanales y Gremios Afines) of Calbuco signed an agreement with CeDePesca.

An MSC pre-assessment was done in November 2010. In January 2012, CeDePesca and Federacion Hualaihue, with the support of the Resources Legacy Fund, hosted a workshop to develop an improvement plan and propose future efforts based on the pre- assessment findings. This workshop, called “Chilean southern hake sustainability,” included attendees from around 30 artisanal fisherman representatives, SUBPESCA (Subsecretary of Fisheries), IFOP, SERNAPESCA (National Fisheries Service), and the national directorate of CONAPACH (Artisanal Fishermen National Confederation). At the workshop, CeDePesca introduced an updated improvement plan, previously agreed with the fishermen’s federation. After the workshop, CeDePesca sent a letter to SUBPESCA summarizing the plan.

FIP Objectives: • Develop a recovery plan, since the southern hake stock is slightly over the SSB limit • Implement a management plan including a harvest strategy • TAC must follow scientific advice • Push the catchers to follow minimum size requirements

Progress Update:

2009 – 2010

In June 2009, the profile of this fishery was made available on FishSource. In May 2010, CeDePesca, SFP, and Federacion Hualaihue signed an agreement for fishery improvement. In November 2010, the MSC pre-assessment was completed but the report was confidential. CeDePesca has met the fishing authorities to show the results of the MSC pre-assessment and requested that the main issues be addressed. CeDePesca has also sent letters about the same issues to fisheries managers at the Subsecretary of Fisheries.In December 2010, the 2011 TAC for southern hake had been slightly curtailed to within 8 percent of scientific recommendations, and a plan was announced to continue to close the gap over the next 3 years until TAC reaches the scientific recommendation. An MSC pre-assessment was conducted in November 2010.

2011

As of December 2011, the announced TAC for 2012 was still 5 percent (1,000 tonnes) above the more optimistic scientific recommendation.

2012

January – March

In January 2012, CeDePesca and Federacion Hualaihue, with the support of the Resources Legacy Fund, hosted a workshop to develop an improvement plan and propose future efforts based on the pre-assessment findings. This workshop, called “Chilean southern hake sustainability,” included attendees from around 30 artisanal fisherman representatives, SUBPESCA, IFOP, SERNAPESCA, and the national directorate of CONAPACH (Artisanal Fishermen National Confederation). At the workshop, CeDePesca introduced an updated improvement plan, previously agreed with the fishermen’s federation. After the workshop, CeDePesca sent a letter to SUBPESCA summarizing the plan.

April – September

Between June and August 2012, CeDePesca contacted potential new stakeholders, such as other fishermen organizations and companies currently exporting to the US. One of the activities was the support to the Los Lagos (X Region) Artisanal Fishermen Association (Asociacion Gremial de Pescadores Artesanales y Gremios Afines Décima Región de Los Lagos) to apply for funds before the Fisheries Management Fund (FAP) to conduct some activities, including outreach of the improvement plan for this FIP.

October – December

The Artisanal Fishermen Association from Los Lagos applied for and won a Fisheries Management Fund grant to develop, with CeDePesca, dissemination and improvement related to the FIP.

2013

January – March

The Artisanal Fishermen Association from Calbuco (Los Lagos) began implementation, with CeDePesca, of the project funded by the Fisheries Management Fund.CeDePesca staff interviewed the Regional Director of SERNAPESCA (National Fisheries Service) to introduce and discuss the FIP improvement plan, particularly the topics about quality of data collection and enforcement of the fishery.

CeDePesca staff met Jorge Farias, chief for Demersal Fisheries at SUBPESCA to introduce the improvement plan for the fishery.

A delegation of Chilean artisanal fishermen participated with CeDePesca staff at the 2013 Boston Seafood Show to create a commercial relationship with US markets interested in artisanal products and sustainability.

In March 2013, a new partner, the Artisanal Fishermen Association of Calbuco (Los Lagos), signed an agreement with CeDePesca.

April – June

In June 2013, CeDePesca and the Artisanal Fishermen Association of Calbuco (Los Lagos), with the support of the Fisheries Management Fund grant, hosted a workshop to discuss the improvement plan and propose future efforts based on the pre- assessment findings. This workshop, called “Chilean southern hake sustainability,” included attendees from around 30 artisanal fisherman representatives belonging to the Federation Union (the second most important artisanal organization in the Los Lagos region); the Subsecretary of Fisheries, Pablo Galilea; other officials from SUBPESCA, IFOP, and SERNAPESCA; and a local buyer and exporter, Master Ltd. At the workshop, CeDePesca introduced an updated improvement plan, which was discussed and agreed by the participants. After the workshop, CeDePesca sent a letter to SUBPESCA summarizing the plan.

In June, Master´s managers talked to their Spanish exclusive customer, who stated it would be interested in medium-term participation in the FIP.

In June, CeDePesca, the Catholic University, and FIPASUR, received a grant from FOSIS (Fondo de Solidaridad e Inversión Social, with support from SMU, a Chilean retailing company. The project’s goal is to provide SMU with seafood coming from responsible, small-scale sources, including Chilean southern hake. This is the first time that a Chilean supermarket has supported this kind of project, which, it is hoped, could become a procurement policy.

July – September

In July, CeDePesca took part in a workshop on the Discards Law (N° 20625) organized by SUBPESCA in Viña del Mar. This law calls for a research plan that has already started in the shrimp, hoki, and common hake fisheries and whose objective is to understand bycatch and discarding issues. The second step would be the design of a mitigation plan. Both plans are to be implemented by IFOP. Workshop attendees included researchers from universities; SUBPESCA, SERNAPESCA, and IFOP representatives; and representatives from the private sector.

On September 26 and 27, CeDePesca took part in the seminar "Progress and Sustainability of Marine Resources" organized by the fishing office of the -Chiloé municipality. CeDePesca’s presentation was on the southern hake FIP and CeDePesca’s project with AG Los Lagos. More than 50 people attended the workshop, including several union representatives and council members.

October – December

In October, SUBPESCA appointed members of the Scientific Technical Committees referred to in the updated General Law on Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Also in October, CeDePesca participated as organizer and exhibitor in the Workshop entitled "Sustainable Fishing and Consumption" within the Seafood Show, organized by FIPASUR and financed by the Fishery Management Fund in Valdivia. During this workshop the first statement supporting responsible fishing was drafted and signed by stakeholders.

In November, CeDePesca participated as an exhibitor in the workshop “Sustainability of southern hake,” run within the framework of the project being implemented by the Fishers Association of Los Lagos. The workshop took place in and was attended by a large number of fishery stakeholders.

Also in November, CeDePesca collaborated in the development of the project proposal "Development of new markets for the sustainable seafood product marketing unit." The new project was introduced to the Project Contest for Demersal Fisheries of the Fisheries Management Fund in Los Lagos, in association with the Asociación Gremial de Los Lagos. The aim of the project is to introduce FIP-related southern hake into the Chilean market.

In December, the Scientific Committee for the Southern Demersal Fisheries met for the first time. Also, the 2014 quotas were released in December. The allocated quota for southern hake is 12,120 tonnes, 42.3% less than 2013, and it is now in accordance with scientific advice.

In December, CeDePesca participated in the seminar "Sustainability of Seafood" organized by the NGO Conservación Marina in Valdivia. Authorities, groups of fishers, and NGO representatives attended this meeting to analyze the state of the sustainability of the artisanal fisheries and to define future lines of work to promote improvements in the development of this area.

2014

January – March

In January, IFOP started conducting meetings for the constitution of the advisory committee for the development of management plans for southern hake.

In February, CeDePesca made an informal presentation of a new proposal to the Fishery Management Fund in collaboration with the Fishermen Association of Los Lagos (AG Los Lagos). The proposal focuses on ensuring continuity in this FIP.

In March, CeDePesca offered its support to AG Los Lagos and Anahuac Union in their quest to send samples of southern hake from Puerto Montt to the United States. FIPASUR (fishers organization that participates in the Chilean anchovy and sardine FIP and that owns the business venture “Pesca En Linea”) bought and processed the samples.

Also in March, this FIP fully transitioned from SFP to CeDePesca’s leadership, including hosting of the public report at cedepesca.net.

Chilean Southern Hake FIP Detailed Information Fishery Problem: Summary of fishery status a. SFP own estimate, based on data from FishSource Current status Status at beginning of FIP Overfished, slightly over the limit Overfished, under the limit reference point reference point

b. Other ranking systems: The fishery has not been rated by any other ranking system.

FIP Progress Update

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