Fishing landings fall more than 15pc in September

According to the latest Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca), the catching sector contributed 1.8 million tonnes between January and September 2012. 87 per cent of the catching sector landings consisted of pelagic resources, and 4 per cent of demersal resources.

The landings of sardine, anchovy and horse mackerel constituted respectively 39.2 per cent, 36.4 per cent and 13.7 per cent of the landings of the catching sector accumulated until September 2012.

These landings were concentrated in Regions V and X, which together received 898,900 tonnes, equivalent to 56.1 per cent of the total.

Further back were located the Regions XV to II, where landings totalled 515,200 tonnes (32.2 per cent), and the Regions III and IV, which accounted for 3.5 per cent of landings, represented by 55,600 tonnes.

As to catches in the demersal fisheries, to September 2012 a total of 10,600 tonnes of southern hake was landed, a figure that is 24.4 per cent lower than that one recorded in the same period of 2011 (14,000 tonnes).

The main contribution came from the industrial fleet, with 5,900 tonnes, while artisanal vessels landed 4,700 tonnes.

Subpesca also reported that hake landing accumulated up to September this year totalled 28,100 tonnes, representing a decrease of 17.1 per cent over the same period of 2011 (33,900 tonnes).

The landing of Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) was 1,500 tonnes up to September 2012, representing 29.7 per cent more than in the first nine months of 2011 (1,170 tonnes).

Between January and September 690 tonnes of golden kingklip were also landed, compared to 609 tonnes in the same period last year, that is to say, 14.4 per cent more.

Meanwhile, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) reported that aquaculture harvests in the first eight months of this year totalled 689,300 tonnes. This figure represents an increase of 10.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2011, when 624,560 tonnes were harvested.

The main resources domestically produced were the Atlantic salmon, mussels and the rainbow trout, which respectively accounted for 37.1 per cent, 28 per cent and 25.4 per cent of the total harvest.

The Regions X and XI generated most of the harvests: a total of 395,900 tonnes and 260,200 tonnes, respectively.

The Atlantic salmon harvests totalled 255,720 tonnes, 59.1 per cent more than the cumulative volume between January and August 2011 (160,757 tonnes). Most of the production was the Region XI (159,000 tonnes) and X (74,000 tonnes).

The harvests of mussels accumulated through August totalled 193,200 tonnes, 25.5 per cent more than in the same period in 2011 (259,477 tonnes). 100 per cent of the harvest came from the Region X.

Meanwhile, rainbow trout harvests totalled 175,000 tonnes, 21.8 per cent more than the cumulative volume between January and August 2011 (143,640 tonnes). Most of the production was from Regions X (90,500 tonnes) and XI (79,200 tonnes).