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Catch of toothfish confiscated

The Fisheries and Prefectural Authorities carried out an operation in the port of Ushuaia to confiscate the catch of toothfish from the 'Tai An' in a surprising operation carried out in the last few hours in the port of Ushuaia. The vessel, belonging to the Prodesur company, has been the center of a controversy after being surprised with a shipment of toothfish valued at 4 million dollars. Upon arrival at the port of Ushuaia by order of the Naval Prefecture, about 163 tons of toothfish were discovered. The situation was aggravated by juvenile specimens of the species which were found among the cargo, the capture of which is strictly prohibited globally in order to preserve its population. The cargo seizure operation was carried out under the supervision of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Agriculture of the Nation, which detected serious environmental faults. The vessel, owned by Chinese businessman Liu Zhijiang, lacked any extra quota authorized for the capture of these specimens. The legal implications of this incident have been immediate, with the resignation of several national government officials involved in the scandal, including Julián Suárez, Pablo Ferrara Raisberg and Guillermo Abdala Bertiche. These resignations underlined the seriousness of the matter and the authorities' commitment to legality and the environment. The National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP) has a report prepared, stating that between February 4 and March 11 the TAI-AN vessel “captured a total of 3,178 tons of fish, consisting of 1,975 tons of pollock, 892 tons of hoke and 175 tons of toothfish, which together represent 96% of the total. The report points out that between February 4 and March 11, the vessel captured 175 tons of toothfish, in seven fishing hauls out of a total of 72, carried out with a bottom trawl net in the grid. statistic 5462 that is part of the Juvenile Toothfish Protection Area (APJMN) at depths that averaged 450 meters From the analysis it appears that the catches of toothfish were obtained through a particular operation of the vessel during the trip, carried out repetitively despite having exceeded the catch limit of the species allowed per trip for said vessel (5 tons), which suggests a manifest intention regarding the fishing of the species: the vessel entered the APJMN every 5/6 days making a set with a bottom trawl in a geographical position almost identical to the previous occasions. On Feb 10, the vessel, after a haul in which it captured 12 tons of toothfish, was already in violation in accordance with CFP Resolution 9/23 (maximum catch of toothfish of 5 tons per fishing trip) , which is why it should not have returned to the APJMN to carry out fishing operations, much less repetitively in positions very close to the one where it had obtained excessive catches of the species. This behavior, in our opinion, demonstrates a clear intention aimed at capturing toothfish. The ship used bottom trawling at depths close to 450 meters in the APJMN, which is not allowed according to the details of CFP Resolution 12/21. As a consequence of the fishing activity with bottom trawl nets at depths prohibited for the use of fishing gear within the APJMN, a proportion of juvenile toothfish (55%) was captured higher than the limit established by current regulations (20 % CFP Resolution 12/19). -Taking into account that the 'Tai An' does not have CITC of toothfish since 2020, the vessel, in addition to failing to comply with the Federal Fisheries Law (24,922) by obtaining catches of the species in a directed manner without having an enabling quota, would have violated three additional regulations by fishing with a bottom trawl at less than 800 meters deep in the APJMN, fishing in a targeted manner for the species at depths lower than that permitted south of 54°S (800 meters) and capturing a proportion of juveniles (55%), much higher than that allowed in each trip. Report with photo: https://www.surenio.com.ar/decomisan-el-cargamento-del-buque-tai-an/

Controversial factory trawler detained in Ushuaia

The controversy unleashed by the actions of the 'Tai An' vessel, reported for illegally fishing 142 tons of toothfish, was detained in the port of Ushuaia by a commission from the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Prefecture after it had detected a serious environmental fault. The 'Tai An' is a ship of Chinese origin, but flagged Argentine by the company Prodesur, belonging to businessman Liu Zhijiang, a Chinese man from Argentina, whose company is based in Ushuaia. The illegal catch led to the resignations of several officials after one of them said he had been pressured to allow illegal fishing from this vessel. The commission found very young specimens of toothfish, a species protected with a fishing quota. The factory trawler produces surimi and is allowed to fish for everything except toothfish, shrimp and quota species, such as toothfish. As a result of the controversy unleashed by the ship, the Director of Fisheries Control and Inspection, Julián Suárez, resigned from his position after denouncing that from the Foreign Ministry he had received pressures to ignore the illegal activity of the Chinese ship. Suárez had requested the ship's route records and had communicated with the inspector on board, thanks to which he detected that he had 142 tons of toothfish on board. The illegal activity has been carried out since February.

Political consequences of dealing with illegal toothfish fishing

The 'Tai An', reported for fishing for toothfish illegally, arrived at the port of Ushuaia on March 20 with a cargo of 163 tons. The value can reach 4 million dollars. But, according to three competing companies, it was obtained by the firm PRODESUR S.A. without the corresponding permits. Antonio Cazorla, Undersecretary of Fisheries of the Nation, questioned about the case, had previously asked the Military Naval Prefecture to accompany the shoü to port and tale it in custody until records are taken of the fishing reports and the reliable volume. The case caused the resignation of two officials, one from the fishing area and another from the Foreign Ministry. It is suspected that there was influence peddling and specific requests so that the ship was not sanctioned and could market its cargo. This caused the resignation, first of all, of Julián Suárez who had been serving as national director of Fisheries Coordination and Inspection since 2020. He had to analyze the case and raise the request for sanctions for the company. But according to him, he received pressure from the Foreign Ministry not to do so. They had also asked him simultaneously to make a list of 50 layoffs. Suárez resigned and pointed out the pressure on a Foreign Ministry official named Pablo Ferrara. In the night of March 19, Ferrara presented his resignation to the Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, who is in Vietnam following the case remotely. From the Foreign Ministry they clarified to Clarín that Ferreyra does not have any family relationship with Mondino, as initially stated.