Starting last Wednesday, the catches of 32 vessels from Rawson Port can be stocked for later be sold with the blue label of sustainability. Others will join in the near future.

The latest assessment report of the fishery conducted by the certifying body, International Agricultural Organization (OIA) was published on the official Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) website, along with the Action Plan for the coastal shrimp fishery in the waters of the province of Chubut last Wednesday, January 22, 2025.

After a detailed review, OIA auditors validated the documentation presented by CeDePesca, along with the client group composed of Achernar, Grupo Veraz, Grupo San Isidro, Iberconsa, Grupo Conarpesa, Consermar, Food Partners Patagonia y Cabo Vírgenes and submitted it to the MSC.

From this moment on, the participating companies in this process, which took almost ten years, will be able to begin stocking shrimp from the 32 participating vessels in the Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP). Once the certification of the fishery is officially announced, and each of the companies certifies its chain of custody, they will be able to market that product with the MSC label.

It is worth noting that there is a 30-day period for registered stakeholders to provide comments, as well as the MSC Reviewers College. After that time, if there are no significant observations, everything will be in place for the official certification of coastal shrimp.

The director of CeDePesca for Argentina, Elba Brunetti, expressed her immense satisfaction with this news: “After almost 10 years of working with our partners on the improvement process of the coastal shrimp fishery in the waters of Chubut, this is a significant step forward, and we are about achieving the long-awaited certification under the MSC’s sustainability fishing standard, which also reflects the guidelines of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries”.

For his part, the executive director of the organization, Ernesto Godelman, highlighted “the crucial initial support provided by the then Secretary of Fisheries of Chubut, Adrián Awstin, as well as the commitment of the current secretary, Andrés Arbeletche, without which it would have been impossible to get here.”

In this context, Godelman indicated that “we are now on the path to also achieve the certification of the shrimp fishery in national waters.”

The deputy director of CeDePesca, Gabriela McLean, also emphasized the support from officials such as Paola Ciccarone from Chubut, the INIDEP team, and the professionals from the Hydrobiology Institute of the University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco, as well as other research entities that have endorsed the Action Plan presented as part of this process.

It is worth remembering that in April 2023, the preparatory phase of the full assessment process for the coastal shrimp fishery in Argentina began when CeDePesca submitted the “document checklist” to OIA as part of that stage, and in March 2024, during the Seafood Expo in Boston, the start of the public “full assessment” process was announced.

Some Facts

  • The coastal shrimp fishery lands between 60,000 and 90,000 tons of shrimp annually, approximately 40% of the national total.
  • This fishery is characterized by the size of the product and the low bycatch.
  • A group of fishery stakeholders initiated a FIP with CeDePesca at the end of 2015 with the goal of achieving MSC certification.
  • 32 of 52 coastal vessels participated in the process. The rest, along with the artisanal fleet, may join the certification in the near future if they meet certain requirements.
  • Once the certification is achieved, some indicators will still need to be strengthened through the activities outlined in the Action Plan.