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Chile has a coastline of 6,435 kilometers. For this reason, in the longest and narrowest country on earth, talking about fishing is inevitable. According to the National Fisheries Society (Sonapesca), total exports of the sector and aquaculture amounted to more than $1,840 million in 2021, up 4% from the previous year. It is the fourth most powerful economy in the nation. And yet, almost a decade ago, after severe periods of overfishing, national standards were tightened. Since then, the South American country has focused on maximum sustainable yield, recognizing that resources are not infinite and that profitability and the protection of marine biodiversity are compatible.
In 2013, Chile was concerned. The water, continuously exploding since the 1960s, set off all the alarms. And several populations have been reduced like never before. The case of horse mackerel was the most worrying for Macarena Cepeda, President of the Association of Fisheries Industrialists (Asipes). “Chile exports more than 64% of the world quota and in 2000 there was almost none. It was severely overfished.” Faced with this scenario, the country decided to tighten its legislation, adapting international requirements – much more restrictive than other laws in the region – and incorporating scientific advice.
So they approved a rule that focused primarily on industrial fishing and allowed for two key elements of governance that marked a turning point in the gradual recovery of the Chilean coast. On the one hand, scientific committees have been created responsible for advising on catch quotas – how much and what can be caught. On the other hand, they formed the management committees in which all stakeholders participate, from public bodies to processors and the fishermen themselves. Supervision of exercises and observers on board is also recommended.
Seeing the fruits of the transition to sustainable fishing is a slow process. Although Chile is ahead of countries in the region, 57% of its fisheries are overexploited or have collapsed. In 2012, this proportion was 68%. Rodrigo Polanco, director of fisheries for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in Latin America, is optimistic: “Once you start doing things well, it will take time. The same is happening with the recovery of the hardest hit populations. It’s not automatic. But of the 16 fisheries mentioned in the official figures, 10 have desirable levels of aquatic biomass. The important thing is to observe how they have recovered over time. And the case of Chile is remarkable”.
The benefits of responsible fishing are endless. The search for selective methods that do not capture indiscriminately, the protection of juvenile fish and endangered species or species with no commercial value that justifies their fishing, allows the preservation of ecosystems inside and outside the oceans, the main carbon scavengers. The lack of balance underwater also endangers life on land.
Artisanal fishing in Caleta Portales Valparaíso, Chile.Claudia Pool (OCEANA)
Certification to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) global standards to ensure seafood sustainability was recently recognized at COP-15 as a scientific tool to reverse the alarming decline in global biodiversity. Two in 10 industrial fisheries in Chile have the company’s permit, requirements that go beyond the already stringent regulations.
However, Polanco points out that the legal framework is not always sufficient, but it is essential: “There is not always absolute certainty, how many fish are under water, the effects of climate change, whether fishermen are complying … There are thousands of factors which we do not control, but this is a cycle of continuous improvement. And this is the only indicator to check good practices and their results. So be it in the long run.”
The challenge to end illegal fishing
Asipes’ Cepeda agrees that there are things that are difficult to control, but not impossible. These include illegal fishing, which he assures is “stronger” in artisanal practice. “Human resources must be allocated to oversee all landings. There is already a technology that is not excessively expensive and that has achieved good results in monitoring and control, but there is a gap in a segment of artisanal fishing that has not yet been added.” For them, this modality, which is “for responsible for a large part of illegal fishing”, “paternalized”.
An idea that César Astete, director of Oceana’s fishing campaigns, disagrees with: “Trawling has endless negative elements for populations and biomass, and it’s an industrial thing. It is true that artisanal fisheries should not be romanticized, but there is a class perspective in thinking that they are the only ones responsible for the irregular market. And it doesn’t just go beyond capture, it happens during transmissions…”.
From an ecological point of view, illegal fishing is like solitaire cheating. When compiling a marine “inventory” to know when and how much to catch is already complex, a discrepancy can slow down the recovery process or make it virtually impossible. Regarding seizures of illegal fishing in Chile, the seizure of illegally caught seafood reached 228 tons in 2020. In 2021, that number rose to 456 tons. According to experts, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Globally, this “mismatch” corresponds to one in five fish.
For Polanco it is important to think about the coming generations: “Sustainability is not there to be ‘good mood’. This is the only way our children and grandchildren cannot end up in a sea without fish.”