Accumulated seafood landings totalled 929,600 tonnes up to March 2014, that is to say, 8.8 per cent more than in the first three months of 2013, when 854,200 tonnes were landed, the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) reported.
According to the latest Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Report issued by the entity, the capture sector recorded a landing of 614,000 tonnes.
Out of this total, 81.5 per cent corresponded to pelagic fisheries, 1.1 per cent for demersal resources, 0.9 per cent to the resources associated with the southern austral demersal fishery and 12.9 per cent to the remaining products.
Until last March 522,600 tonnes of pelagic resources were landed, 27.8 per cent more than in the same period of 2013.
Sardine, anchovy and horse mackerel landings accounted for 37.7 per cent, 32.3 per cent and 20.5 per cent, respectively, of the capture sector accumulated until March 2013.
These landings concentrated in Regions V and X , with 67.3 per cent of the total; and was followed by landings in Regions XV- II, with 28.9 per cent; and the zones III and IV, with 3.8 per cent.
As to demersal fishery catches, as of March 2014 a total of 4,160 tonnes of southern hake was landed, 35.1 per cent more than in the same period of 2013 (3,080 tonnes).
The main contribution came from the industrial fleet, with 1,900 tonnes, while artisanal vessels landed 2,200 tonnes.
SUBPESCA also reported that the landing of hake accumulated to March this year totalled 5,030 tonnes, representing a decrease of 47.3 per cent compared to 2013 (9,540 tonnes).
Between January and March 2014 a total of 495 tonnes of Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) was unloaded, that is to say, 9.8 per cent less than in the same period last year.
In the first three months 443 tonnes of kingclip were landed, compared to 566 tonnes in the same period last year, that is to say, 21.8 per cent less.
Meanwhile, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Sercvice (SERNAPESCA) reported that aquaculture harvests totalled 315,360 tonnes last March, representing a decrease of 10.4 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2013, when 352,000 tonnes had been harvested.
The main products nationally produced were Atlantic salmon, mussels and Pacific salmon, which accounted for 48.3 per cent, 21.8 per cent and 14.2 per cent of the total harvest.
Regions X and XI generated most of the harvest: a total of 200,200 tonnes and 106,300 tonnes, respectively.
The Atlantic salmon harvests totalled 152,260 tonnes in March 2014, 17.1 per cent more than the accumulated amount in the same quarter of 2013 (130,080 tonnes). Most of the production came from Regions XI (81,400 tonnes) and X (64,500 tonnes).
Meanwhile, mussel harvests totalled 68,820 tonnes in March 2014, 34.6 per cent less than the volume accumulated in the same quarter of 2013 (105,260 tonnes). 100 per cent of the harvests came from Region X.
Finally, Pacific salmon harvests reached 44,900 tonnes in the first three months of this year, a figure that represented a decline of 30.7 per cent year-on-year (64,760 tonnes). The resource is mainly harvested in Region X (73.4 per cent) and a lower level in Region XI (26.6 per cent).