The fish landings accumulated up to August 2013 totalled 1.8 million tonnes, 28.8 per cent less than in the first eight months of 2012, when 2.5 million tonnes were landed, the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) reported.
According to the latest Report of Fisheries and Aquaculture prepared by the entity, the capture fisheries sector contributed 1.2 million tonnes between January and August 2013.
The 77.6 per cent of the wild fish landings consisted of pelagic resources while demersal resources accounted for 3.2 per cent.
Anchovy, horse mackerel and sardine landings accounted for 43.9 per cent, 24.3 per cent and 18.4 per cent, respectively, of the capture sector landings accumulated until August 2013.
These landings were concentrated in Regions V and X, which together received 50.7 per cent of the total. The Regions XV and II were located further back, with 38.4 per cent of the total; and the Regions III and IV, with 10.8 per cent.
As to catches of demersal fisheries, up to August 2013 a total of 11,000 tonnes of southern hake was landed, representing 11 per cent less than in the same period in 2012 (12,000 tonnes).
Subpesca also reported that the landing of hake accumulated up to August this year totalled 26,800 tonnes, representing a decrease of 6.1 per cent compared to the same period in 2012 (28,580 tonnes).
The landing of Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) was of 2,121 tonnes through August, 2013, 21.8 per cent less than in the first eight months of 2012 (2,713 tonnes).
Between January and August, 1,127 tonnes of kingclip were landed compared to 1,111 tonnes in the same period last year, that is to say, 1.4 per cent more.
Meanwhile, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) reported that in the first eight months of this year aquaculture harvests totalled 683,100 tonnes, a figure that indicates a decrease of 3.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2012, when 711,000 tonnes had been harvested.
The main resources domestically produced were Atlantic salmon, mussel and rainbow trout, which respectively accounted for 45.7 per cent, 29.4 per cent and 13.7 per cent of the total harvest.
Regions X and XI generated most of the harvest: a total of 406,500 tonnes and 254,000 tonnes, respectively.
The Atlantic salmon harvests totalled 311,900 tonnes, 21.7 per cent more than the cumulative volume between January and August, 2012 (256,255 tonnes). Most of the production was from Regions XI (189,500 tonnes) and X (106,400 tonnes).
The harvests of mussels accumulated through August totalled 200,650 tonnes, 6.1 per cent less than in the same period in 2012 (213,615 tonnes). 100 per cent of the harvest came from Region X.
Meanwhile, rainbow trout harvests totalled 93,500 tonnes, 46.8 per cent less than the cumulative volume between January and August, 2012 (175,605 tonnes). Most of the production was from Regions X (53,600 tonnes) and XI (37,900 tonnes).