Fishery Improvement Project – Prospective

Last update: March 2024

Species: Argentina Hake (Merluccius hubbsi)

FIP Stage according to CASS: 4, Improvements in Fisheries Practices or Management.

FIP Rating according to MSC benchmarking tool: (Y0, April 2022).

FIP Rating according to SFP rating system: A (Advanced Progress)

FIP profile at FisheryProgress.org: Argentine hake – industrial bottom trawl (January 2024)

Fishery Location: Stock south of 41°S.

FIP Coordination: If you would like more information about the FIP or if you wish to support it, please contact Ángel Diaz Lugo (CeDePesca).

FIP Participants:

• Costa Marina S.A.
• Estrella Patagonica S.A.
• Giorno S.A.
• Grupo Iberconsa Argentina S.A.
• Pedro Moscuzza e Hijos S.A.
• Pescasol S.A.
• Pesquera Comercial S.A.
• CeDePesca (technical support)

Other references:

• INIDEP – Merluza común (in Spanish)

Date Publicly Announced: October 2019 (Prospective FIP announced)

Date Active FIP Launched: April 2022 (Comprehensive FIP Action Plan adopted)

Supporting Documents:

• MSC Pre-Assessment

Initial Improvement Recommendations:

• [COMPLETE] Complete an MSC Pre-Assessment of the fishery to determine its current level of compliance against the standard and to identify sustainability issues.
• [COMPLETE]  Adopt a FIP Action Plan to achieve a certifiable status for the fishery.

Current Improvement Recommendations:

• Achieve the establishment of explicit, well-defined harvest control rules.
• Achieve the definition of a limit reference point for the southern stock of Argentine hake and the periodic peer review of the stock assessment.
• Promote the continuity and regularity of research campaigns directed at the Argentine hake stock.
• Collect additional data on the interactions of the Argentine hake fishery with other components of the ecosystem through the implementation of a Private On-Board Observer Program.
• Support the development of research activities related to the improvement of the selectivity of fishing gears to reduce bycatch.
• Promote the adoption of a Recovery Plan for pink cuskeel.
• Ensure the improvement of the fishery-specific management system, including the periodic evaluation of its performance.
• Promote the bilateral cooperation between Argentina and Spain within the framework of the existing Memorandum of Understanding for the Sustainable Management of the Argentine hake fishery in the area adjacent to the Argentine EEZ.

Background:

The Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) bottom trawl – freezing fleet – FIP is being implemented by Pedro Moscuzza e Hijos S.A, Estrella Patagonica S.A., Grupo Iberconsa de Argentina S.A., Giorno S.A., Pescasol S.A., Costa Marina S.A. and Pesquera Comercial S.A. with the technical support of CeDePesca. The FIP aims to achieve a certifiable status for the fishery against the MSC standard in the shortest timeframe possible.

Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) is a demersal-pelagic species that inhabits cold waters related to sub-antarctic currents. It is one of the leading fishing resources in the Argentine Sea.  The Southern stock of the species is distributed between 41°S and 48°S. The industrial fishery is comprised of two main fleets: the freezing fleet and the chilling fleet. Both fleets use bottom trawls as fishing gear. The fishery is managed by the Fisheries Federal Council (Consejo Federal Pesquero) and the National Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca de la Nación), while research and stock assessments are undertaken by the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero).

The harvest strategy consists of different elements including management measures related to the control of fishing effort (e.g. fishing quotas, fishing zones, closures), surveillance and control measures (e.g. vessel satellite monitoring, inspection of landings, catch certificates), fishery monitoring (e.g. landing statistics, onboard observer programs, scientific research campaigns) and assessments of the status of the stock through mathematical models.

Progress Update

2019

July – December 2019

On July 1st, 2019, Grupo Iberconsa Argentina and CeDePesca signed a Framework Agreement and Specific Agreement N1 to implement Stages 0 – 2 of a Fishery Improvement Project for the Argentine hake (Southern stock) industrial bottom trawl fishery.

On November 30th, CeDePesca delivered the first draft of a pre-assessment of the fishery against the MSC standard. 

2020

January 2020

On January 29th, CeDePesca presented a draft Action Plan to Grupo Iberconsa Argentina, identifying improvement needs and suggesting a road map to attain a certifiable status for the fishery in the shortest timeframe possible.  If the Action Plan is adopted, a new Specific Agreement will be signed, and the FIP will start its implementation stage.

A meeting between Grupo Iberconsa, INIDEP and CeDePesca to discuss potential FIP tasks has been scheduled for March 2020.

2022

March – September

On March 22th, PEDRO MOSCUZZA E HIJOS S.A., ESTRELLA PATAGONICA S.A., GRUPO IBERCONSA DE ARGENTINA S.A., GIORNO S.A., PESCASOL S.A., COSTA MARINA S.A., PESQUERA COMERCIAL S.A. and CeDePesca agree on the implementation of an Improvement Project (PROME) for the common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) fishery -freezing fleet- in Argentina, including technical work, information exchange, training and education, as well as any other type of collaboration aimed at to achieve and maintain certifiable status against the Marine Stewardship Fisheries Sustainability Standard Council (MSC).

On April 26th, a meeting was held between MOSCUZZA and CeDePesca in order to present the FIP Argentine common hake for the freezer fleet.

On April 26th, a meeting was held between INIDEP and CeDePesca in order to present the results of the pre-evaluation against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, carried out in 2019, highlighting the weaknesses found during its preparation. The action plan prepared by CeDePesca and the partners that seeks to promote improvements in fishing practices to achieve a certifiable status was explained.

In order to request support to resolve the weaknesses of FIP, which will allow the fishery to achieve sustainability certification, on 8 th June, a Note was sent to the Director of INIDEP, Lic. Oscar Horacio Padin., 

According to the request made by CeDePesca, the researchers presented a list activities framed in the FIP Argentina hake, during the meeting on August 13th.

Regarding the implementation the FIP Argentina hake observer program, six activities were carried out, the first was a meeting on June 14th, whith the participation of MOSCUZZA, IBERCONSA, MARINE LIFE IMPACTS MITIGATIONS SERVICES S.A. and CeDePesca in order to define the vessel and the date of shipment.

With the purpose of gaining an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of fishing operations and thereby determining the methodology to be followed in collecting information on board, on June 21th, a virtual meeting was held between CeDePesca and Cap. Álvaro Pozos Fleet manager of the company IBERCONSA. 

Later on July 15th, a virtual meeting was held with the participation of MARINE LIFE IMPACTS MITIGATIONS SERVICES S.A. and CeDePesca with the objective of conducting virtual training of observers in filling out the on-board data record on the target species, accompanying species, discards, interactions with the background and interactions with protected, threatened and endangered (ETP) species.

In order to include the Captains and embarked personnel of the FIP vessels on August 8th, a virtual meeting was held between IBERCONSA SOLIMENO and CeDePesca, where the Onboard Observer Program was presented.

On August 25th, the ship PONTE DE RANDE of the SOLIMENO Group was defined to start the observer program, the departure date would be September 9th.

Also a meeting on August 29th, was held with INIDEP researchers in order to review the information collection formats of the observer program.

Regarding the improvements in the fishery management system on July 28th, a virtual meeting was held between Estrella Patagónica, SOLIMENO, MOSCUZZA, IBERCONSA, INIDEP and CeDePesca, in order to prepare and agree on the proposal for improvements in the fishery management system to be presented by the partners before the commission tracking of the fishery Argentine hake.

Regarding social aspects, CeDePesca and its FIP partners complied with the requirements of the new FisheryProgress policy by submitting the Self-Assessment of the risk criteria and list of vessels associated with the FIP, considering data publicly available to CeDePesca and the information provided by the FIP partners.

CeDePesca and its FIP partners complied with the requirements website FisheryProgress and on July 22th  published the Argentine hake profile of the freezer fleet bottom trawl.

October 2022– March 2023 

On September 10th, the Private On-Board Observer Program began in the context of the PROME Hake. To date, two trips have been monitored on vessels owned by its members.

In the last meeting of the Monitoring Commission of the Argentine hake fishery as established in Act No. 11-2022, the Entrepreneurs, at the request of CeDePesca, requested that the regulations of the common hake fishery be grouped together in a single measure of administration, said request was recorded. 

On December 19th, 2022, CeDePesca submitted a Note to the National Directorate of Auditing and Fisheries Control requesting the history of sanctions in the Argentine hake freezer fleet, which was answered on January 12th, 2023 by Note No. IF-2023 -04817455-APN-DNCYFP-MAGYP, this report will help to better understand the performance of the fishery in relation to PI3.2.3 of the MSC standard.

On March 10th, 2023, a virtual meeting was held with INIDEP researchers to discuss the progress of research activities related to the PROME. The researchers indicated that the estimation of the Limit Reference Point will start in April and then they intend to continue with the Catch Control Tools.

Between March 15th and 28th, INIDEP conducted an internal workshop lasting 16 hours with participants from the research team of the common hake fishery, which was given by Dr. Otto C. Wöhler and Lic. Di Marco, with the main objective of transferring knowledge and methodology for the establishment of Biological Reference Points (BRP) based on MSY for both hake (Merluccius hubbsi) stocks in the Argentine Sea, within the framework of the PROME the fishery is going through.

Regarding social aspects, CeDePesca and its FIP partners complied with the requirements of the new FisheryProgress policy by presenting a description of the complaint mechanisms currently available to fishers, considering the data publicly available to CeDePesca and the information provided by the FIP partners.

April – September 2023

On April 28 th, CeDePesca held a virtual meeting with INIDEP, with the purpose of learning about the activities planned during 2023 by the Department of Fishing Gear related to the common hake PROME. 

On May 17th, CeDePesca made a follow-up report on the management measures implemented by the Federal Fisheries Council that demonstrates that the freezer trawler fleet would not be exceeding the value of 3% allowed (Resolution No. 09/2018) of the total catch of pink cuskeel.

On June 21th, CeDePesca prepared a preliminary report of the POAB coordinated by CeDePesca and executed by the MMO Argentina on the capture of Argentine hake.

With a view to defining a management plan for the fishery, in July 20 th, 2023 CeDePesca presented to the FIP partners a first draft, which includes specific management objectives that seek sustainability, existing regulations, catch control rules, objectives in relation to the impact on the ecosystem, generic monitoring and capture control provisions, among others.

On July 24th, CeDePesca presented a note to the Director of INIDEP to request the prioritization of the activities to be financed by PROME, for example; Descriptive report of bycatch over the last 10 years based on data from observers on board, with special emphasis on freezer vessels that are part of PROME.

On July 29 th, CeDePesca presented a preliminary report of the information collected by the Private Program of Observers on Board (POAB) coordinated by CeDePesca and executed by MMO Argentina from a total of 4 fishing trips and 284 fishing hauls made during the period from September 2022 to July 2023.

On September 6th, began the fifth trip monitored by the Private Program of Observers on Board (POAB) coordinated by CeDePesca and executed by MMO.

Regarding social aspects, CeDePesca and its FIP partners met the requirements of the new FisheryProgress policy by completing the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy Declaration, in addition to presenting the update of the Self-assessment of risk criteria, mechanisms of complaint and list of vessels associated with PROME.

CeDePesca held a virtual meeting on September 26th with the participation of PROME partners, where the preliminary results of the Private Observer Program (POAB) were discussed, with the aim of addressing good fishing practices..

October 2023 – March 2024

CeDePesca held a virtual meeting on October 19th , with researchers from INIDEP to learn about the progress of the selectivity device tests. In addition, the researchers explored the possibility of using PROME partner vessels to conduct new tests.

On October 23th , 2023, INIDEP submitted a note to CeDePesca on the adequacy of the Technical Proposal and Budget for PROME-related activities.

In October, INIDEP informed CeDePesca that, within the framework of PROME activities, it published the Protocol for data recording and sampling of benthic communities carried out for the freezer fleet that catches Argentine hake.

CeDePesca presented a note of acceptance to the director of INIDEP on November 16th , regarding the adequacy of the Technical Proposal and Budget of the activities related to the PROME.

On November 22th, during the meeting of the Monitoring Commission of the common hake fishery, INIDEP presented the results of the last stock assessment, with an improvement in the estimation of a new PBO.

On December 6th , CeDePesca held a virtual meeting with the participation of PROME partners, where the preliminary results of the Private Observer Program (POAB) were discussed, with the aim of addressing good fishing practices.

On December 19th , CeDePesca held a virtual meeting with captains and fleet managers of the vessels associated with the PROME, to gather information to implement good fishing practices.

On January 30th , CeDePesca prepared a new preliminary report of the Private On-Board Observer Program (POAB) coordinated by CeDePesca and executed by MMO.

On March 4th , began the eighth trip monitored by the Private Program of Observers on Board (POAB) coordinated by CeDePesca and executed by MMO.

Regarding social aspects, CeDePesca and its FIP partners keep the requirements of the new FisheryProgress policy up to date by completing the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy Statement.

If you would like more information about the FIP or if you wish to support it, please contact Angel Diaz (CeDePesca).