The MSC certification of the coastal red shrimp fishery has generated a great deal of satisfaction in the province, as this is its most important fishery and has a major impact on its economy.
The ten-year long process of achieving the blue seal is taking place in a context where the recent fishing season came to an end with unprecedented figures in the province: more than 106 thousand tonnes landed in Rawson port.
The path followed by the companies that make up the Client Group together with CeDePesca went through more than one government administration in the aforementioned province, and they found very good receptivity in the Secretaries of Fisheries Adrian Awstin and Andrés Arbeletche, who were key players in achieving the goal.
The Chubut governor himself, Ignacio “Nacho” Torres, described the red shrimp certification fishery in the province’s waters with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) blue seal as a “historic milestone“. “It is an international recognition that allows us to position ourselves as a benchmark for sustainable fishing, strengthen exports and open up to new markets,” he said, highlighting “the serious and coordinated work between the state and the companies in the sector”.
Adrián Awstin, previous Secretary of Fisheries of Chubut during the first years of the Fishery Improvement Project, said that for the Patagonian province “It is a great achievement and proof that the synergy between the public and private sectors, with committed actors, is what we must strive for”.
The previous provincial official added that “now with this new tool, the private sector of Chubut will have the opportunity to place the emblematic product of Argentinean fishery ‘the red shrimp’ in more demanding markets, which require certified products”.
Awstin did not hide his feeling of “proud” to have been part of this process, “and to have shared work tables together with a group of excellent professionals that make up CeDePesca”.
For his part, the current Chubut’s Fishery Secretary pointed that “the Fisheries Secretariat had to adapt many regulatory procedures in order to be able to get the certification; it was a joint effort between the companies seeking certification and the State, which provided the means and the regulatory adaptations to make this happen, being stricter in some things, more restrictive in terms of resource care and more transparent in the way decisions are made, i.e. the rationale for opening and closing the fishing season”.
Current Fisheries Secretary Andrés Arbeletche also highlighted CeDePesca’s role in this achievement, stating that it was “a key element in getting the certification”.
