Chile’s senate has voted a new fishing quota bill into law.
With 38 votes in favor and one abstention, the senate approved the recommendations offered by a congressional joint committee formed to establish new fishing quotas between the industrial sector and artisanal fishers. The lower house of congress approved the bill one day before with 122 votes in favor, 15 against, and two abstentions.
The previous Chilean fishing law, enacted in 2013 and originally set to last until 2032, handed control of the vast majority of Chile’s fishing quotas to a handful of large-scale private fishing firms – a move that the current government under President Gabriel Boric deemed was “illegitimate and illegal.” In response, Boric has sought to introduce legislation to level the playing field, reducing quotas allocated to industrial fishing firms and increasing artisanal quotas.
Under the new law, the nation’s congress approved the following:
1. Anchovy: In the maritime area comprising Chile’s northern regions of Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, and Coquimbo, the catch quota to be established will range between 55 percent and 85 percent for the artisanal fishing sector and 15 percent to 45 percent for the industrial fishing sector, with an initial percentage of 55 percent for the artisanal sector and 45 percent for the industrial sector. If the industrial sector fails to meet the effective catch assigned, the quota destined to the artisanal fishing sector may increase by 10 percentage points per year. If the industrial sector reaches its effective annual catch allocation, it may maintain its initial percentage or have it increased by up to 10 percentage points per year...
