logo
Chile ups hake catch limits for small-scale fishermen

Chile ups hake catch limits for small-scale fishermen

France 2419-06-2025
The new regulation increases their percentage from 40% to 45% of the annual catch quota of 35,000 tons of this fish, with the remaining 55% going to industrial fisheries.
The small-scale anglers had been pressing for 70%.
One of the country's most popular consumed species, the hake population has decreased by 70% over the last two decades, according to the Fishing Development Institute, a non-profit research group.
The new regulation was approved 38-0 with one abstention in the Chilean Senate.
The South Pacific hake, or merluccius gayi, provides a living for some 4,000 small-scale fishermen in Chile, a country with over 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) of coastline and a voracious appetite for the fish known as "merluza" in Spanish.
Since 2012, the common hake has been considered an overfished species in Chile, with limits on when and how much of the relatively inexpensive fish can be caught.
Along central Chile's traditional fishing heartland, more and more boats are returning to port with empty holds as overfishing and climate change decimate hake stocks.
Conservationists have also been critical of industrial fishing's practice of bottom trawling, which has severe impacts for oceans and ecosystems.
The law passed Wednesday will also boost the allowances for small-scale fishermen who catch jack mackerel, sardines and anchovies, among other fish.
Economy Minister Nicolas Grau said the new law means a redistribution of more than $160 million from the industrial sector to artisans.
Hundreds of non-industrial fishermen staged violent protests in late March in central and southern Chile, demanding better fishing percentages.
Pacific Blu, the company that fishes hake the most, threatened to close its factory if its catch quota was reduced too much, but backed off the threats with the new law's numbers.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Japan's failure to contain rising rice prices threatens Senate majority
Japan's failure to contain rising rice prices threatens Senate majority

LeMonde

time20 hours ago

  • LeMonde

Japan's failure to contain rising rice prices threatens Senate majority

The high price of rice has cast doubt on the future of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. With the issue topping voters' concerns ahead of the Senate elections on July 20, the issue threatens to cost the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) its majority. Polls predict the party will win 35 seats out of the 124 up for renewal, down from 57 in the outgoing assembly. The rice issue has dominated the campaign. The LDP, which has been in power almost continuously since 1955, pledged to revive rice production. Ishiba argued that "farmers must earn enough to live on and work without worry." Meanwhile, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP, opposition) called for increased subsidies for rice growers and, like other parties, advocated scrapping the highly unpopular consumption tax on food products. The LDP struggled to convince voters after failing to halt the surge in prices that had persisted for months, fueled by poor harvests, precautionary buying that began in summer 2024 following warnings of an imminent earthquake, a tourism boom and speculation by wholesalers. The crisis was further inflamed by criticism from the Trump administration over Japan's "700%" rice import tariff, a figure which is disputed by Tokyo.

In Brazil, lawmakers pass a 'devastating' environmental deregulation bill
In Brazil, lawmakers pass a 'devastating' environmental deregulation bill

LeMonde

timea day ago

  • LeMonde

In Brazil, lawmakers pass a 'devastating' environmental deregulation bill

For Brazilian environmental advocates, this is one of the most harmful bills for the environment in recent decades. After the Senate approved it in May, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies adopted, on the night between July 6 and 7, a bill relaxing environmental regulations, referred to by its critics as the "devastation law." At the heart of the 56-page document are two key acronyms: LAE, standing for licença ambiental especial (special environmental license), and LAC, for licença por adesão e compromisso (license by adhesion and commitment). The first allows the government to designate certain construction projects as "strategic," subjecting them to fast-track procedures with a maximum authorization period of one year, regardless of ecological impact. The second will let companies have their environmental exploitation projects approved through self-declaration, as long as they are considered to be of "small" or "medium" scale – definitions left up to federal entities, such as states or municipalities. Additionally, it removes the veto power of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), a body under the Ministry of the Environment, over construction within protected areas.

Brazil passes controversial bill that weakens environmental law
Brazil passes controversial bill that weakens environmental law

Euronews

time2 days ago

  • Euronews

Brazil passes controversial bill that weakens environmental law

A bill to overhaul environmental regulations in Brazil was passed by the country's lower house Thursday, drawing criticism from the environmental minister who floated the possibility of a presidential veto. With the bill already passed by the Senate in May, it now goes to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who casts himself as an environmental defender and later this year will preside over the first UN climate talks, known as COP30, to take place in the Amazon. Lula can sanction the project, veto it in its entirety or veto only certain aspects. But he has not publicly commented on what action he might take. If signed by Lula, the sweeping legislation will weaken federal agencies' environmental licensing powers. Among other measures, it speeds up review for projects deemed priorities by the federal government, reducing the approval process from three bureaucratic steps to one. It also eliminates reviews for upgrades to existing highways, which could clear the way to pave the whole of a highway that runs about 900 kilometres through the western part of the Amazon. Environmentalists argue that the project will lead to the mass clearing of a pristine area of rainforest. The bill's approval is a victory for supporters who argued Brazil's current regulations need to be simplified, but a blow for environmental experts and green activists, who refer to it as the 'devastation bill.' The bill passed with a strong majority, 267 votes to 116. 'The worst piece of legislation' After the bill passed, Environment Minister Marina Silva told local press that the bill undermined environmental legislation and that the federal government would still seek alternatives, including the possibility of a presidential veto. A campaign in the lead up to the vote said the bill could lead to a regression in pollution control risking health issues, increase water contamination and scarcity, increase deforestation and undermine protected areas. At the heart of concerns is the proposal to install a self-declaration process for environmental licensing, which Suely Araújo, the public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory network of NGOs, said would cover around 90 per cent of total projects in Brazil. Companies would 'file a description online, press a button, and the license will be issued,' she said, calling the proposal 'by far the worst piece of legislation' ever from an environmental standpoint. Last week, more than 300 nonprofits, including Greenpeace and WWF Brazil, signed a petition expressing their 'deep concern' regarding the bill, which they say 'represents a huge institutional setback for Brazil and the collapse of over 40 years of development of national environmental legislation.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store