Foreign Fishery Developments

Italians Enact NewFishery Development Plan

The Italian Parliament passed intolaw a fisheries development plan on 17February 1982. The new plan, whichrequired 3 years to develop, has a pro­jected budget of about $50 million tobe spent by 1985. The plan has thefollowing three objectives:

1) Promotion of scientific researchand the technological development ofmarine fisheries and aquaculture,

2) Creation of fishery cooperativesfor the harvesting, processing, distri­bution, and marketing of fishery re­sources, and

3) Modernization of the Italian fish­ing fleet and shore processing plants.

New Fisheries Institute

To accomplish its objectives, theplan provides for the creation of sever­al new committees and workinggroups, a research institute, and fish­eries financing. These include:

1) An advisory committee on con­servation and management of livingmarine resources,

2) A working group within the Ital­ian Census Bureau (1STAT) to collectand to compile fishery statistics,

3) A committee to coordinate scien-

Note: Unless otherwise credited,material in this section is from eitherthe Foreign Fishery InformationReleases (FFIR) compiled by Sunee C.Sonu, Foreign Reporting Branch, Fish­ery Development Division, SouthwestRegion, National Marine Fisheries Ser­vice, NOAA, Terminal Island, CA90731, or the International FisheryReleases (IFR), Language Services Bi­weekly (LSB) reports, or Language Ser­vices News Briefs (LSNB) produced bythe Office of International FisheriesAffairs, National Marine Fisheries Ser­vice, NOAA, Washington, DC 20235.

26

tific research and the transfer of mod­em technology to the Italian marinefishing industry and to determine proj­ects suitable for government financing,

4) A central institute of fisheriesresearch and technology to be estab­lished with a grant of $1.2 million anda still undetermined annual operatingbudget, and

5) Government financing of andsubsidies to the fishing industry.

Central Fund

A central fund is to be created toprovide low interest loans and/or out­right grants for: Construction of newfishing vessels (but only if balanced offby grounding of obsolete craft); con­struction of fish factory vessels;modernization of existing vessels; de­velopment or expansion of aquacul­ture projects; development or expan­sion of shore facilities for processing,storage, conservation, and marketingof local and EC-imported fisheryproducts; acquisition of containers andtransport vehicles; construction orexpansion of retail outlets for localfishery products operated by Italianfishing associations, consortia, andcooperatives; operating capital (up to15 percent) to owners of ocean-goingfishing vessels and for joint venturesbetween Italian and foreign fishingcompanies (or foreign governmentfishery agencies) operating in watersunder the jurisdiction of the foreigncountry concerned.

The loan interest rate is to be 40 per­cent (30 percent for companies locatedin southern Italy) of the reference ratedetermined by the Italian Ministry ofthe Treasury. (In practice, this comesto an interest rate of around 8 percent.)The loan cannot exceed 70 percent ofthe costs, but, in the case of fishingcooperatives and consortia, 80 percent

coverage of investment costs is al­lowed. The companies will also be ableto request nonreimbursable grants forthe same type of projects for anamount of up to 40 percent of the totalcost; 50 percent with the concurrenceof other local government entities; and75 percent for initiatives undertaken byfirms located in southern Italy. Grantsmay be obtained along with the subsi­dized loans. Another provision of theplan provides grants for the voluntarysinking of outdated fishing vessels at arate of 400,000 Lire' per gross regis­tered ton if no new vessel is built within5 years and 200,000 Lire per gross tonif a new vessel is built in its place.

Financing Needed

The plan is considered ambitiousand well conceived, but seriouslyunder-financed. It takes into accountthe fact that the Italian fishing fleet of4,000 vessels - over half of which areoutdated - should be halved to 2,000modem, well-equipped vessels. How­ever, the plan provides no incentivesfor new construction, and it is believedthat most vessel owners will find theincentives to scuttle old vessels insuffi­cient. Prominent Italian fishermen alsodoubt that the incentives to encouragethe formation of consortia and coop­eratives will be effective in the highlyindividualistic Italian fishing industry.

It has been noted that the Meridio­nal Pesca2 company which has ar­ranged a joint venture with Fass Broth­ers of Hampton, Va., to catch andprocess squid in the U.S. 200-mileFishery Conservation Zone during thesummer of 1982 will be among the firstto petition for government assistanceunder the plan's provision for grantsand/or easy credit to Italian fIrmsengaged in joint ventures with foreigngovernments or foreign companies.Since most of the African countrieswhere Italy now fishes do not offer at­tractive prospects for joint ventureswith Italian fIrms, such opportunitiesare more likely to develop with

'US$l.OO= 1,382 Lire as of 17 June, 1982.'Mention of trade names or commercial firmsdoes not imply endorsement by the NationalMarine Fisheries Service, NOAA.

Marine Fisheries Review

"stable" fishing partners in the UnitedStates and perhaps Canada. A jointventure with a Yugoslavian company isalso in preparation.

Squid AUocations

The new EC-Canadian fisheriesagreement permitted EC countries tocatch as much as 7,000 metric tons (t)of squid in Canadian waters last sum­mer. Since Italy, except for France andWest Germany, is the only EC countryinterested in fishing Canadian-claimedwaters, Italy hoped for a large share ofthat amount. Since the EC was behindschedule in making a breakdown ofthe Canadian fishery allocations to theEC countries, Italy was reportedlyclose to unilaterally declaring that it in­tended to take for itself 4,000 t andthus force an EC decision.

By May, the United States had notyet announced the fishing allocationsfor the summer 1982 season. As theU.S. fishing season began on 15 June,the Italian fleet was desperately await­ing word about its U.S. allocations toready its fishing fleet. The Italians havecomplained that every year the U.S.announcement comes so late that theseason is already partly over and Italycannot catch its full allocations in time.

The new Caaadian agreement hasnot decreased the Italian interest infishing U.S. wa'ters for squid. Italianlong-finned (Lo/igo) and short-finned(II/ex) squid consumption is about30,000 t a year. The Italian fleet cur­rently provides less than one-third ofthat amount; the rest is imported(mainly from Argentina where squid isfished by Polish fishermen).

The 800-tons of short and long­finned squid allocated to the Meridio­nale-Fass joint venture will bededucted from the total U.S. squidallocation to Italy, which could leavethe rest of the Italian fleet with anamount too small to make its squidoperations profitable. Italian fisher­men now hope that Italian efforts tolaunch joint ventures with U.S. com­panies (and to provide gear and freez­ing technology) will be recognizedwhen U.S. allocations are made.Italian companies are watching theresults of the Meridionale-Fass project

November 1982,44(11)

and plan two more joint ventures withU.S. companies in the Boston area inthe near future. (Source: IFR-82/85.)

Mexican State FishCompany Tells Plans

Mexico's state fishing company,Productos Pesqueros Mexicanos(PPM), is the largest fishing companyin Latin America. As a result of thegovernment's emphasis on fisheriesdevelopment, PPM has sharply ex­panded its fleet and production. PPMplans to process 260,000 metric tons (t)of fish for human consumption in1982, 160 percent more than the100,000 t processed in 1981.

PPM General Manager, Jose BellotCastro, has set a primary goal of giv­ing more autonomy to individual plantmanagers so operations can be betteradjusted to local conditions. PPM alsoplans to study the possibilities of estab­lishing regional divisions. PPM af­filiates in Baja California and Sonoraare already operating with con­siderable autonomy as Industrias Pes­queras Paraestatales del Noroeste.

The 1982 goals for the PPM fleet in­cluded finishing the construction ofmost of the 165 new fishing vessels be­ing built for PPM, overhauling thefleet and establishing a preventivemaintenance schedule, and establish­ing production goals for each vessel.

Processing plant goals for 1982 in­cluded opening the new plants at Ler­man in Campeche and Topolobampoin Sinaloa. The Topolobampo plantwill be the largest in Mexico andperhaps the largest in Latin America.They also planned to open the smallerplants PPM was building in associa­tion with private investors and coop­eratives and install fish processing linesin the shrimp plants purchased fromprivate owners l

• Likewise, all ofPPM's plants were to be incorporated

1PPM acquired almost all of Mexico's private­ly-owned shrimp packing plants in late 1981and early 1982. The acquisition was part of alarger government plant to restructure thecountry's shrimp industry. At the same time,privately owned vessels were transferred to thecooperatives.

into the Pepepez and Pescador pro­grams which are designed to increasethe edible fishery products available toMexican consumers.

Another PPM priority during 1982was to improve Mexico's marketingsystem, especially for tuna, sardines,and shrimp. Tuna is a special priorityfor PPM because of the rapidly ex­panding catch' by Mexico's growingtuna fleet. Most of the catch has beencanned, but Mexican companies havebeen unable to export successfullymuch of the canned product. As aresult, PPM is trying to promotemassive increases in domestic con­sumption.

Sardines are important to PPMbecause their catch is also increasingand because sardines are an importantelement of the Sistema Mexicano Ali­mentario (SAM), a government pro­gram to increase the food productsavailable to low-income consumers.

Shrimp is also receiving special at­tention and PPM hopes to marketmore domestically. Traditionally,about 80 percent of Mexico's shrimpcatch is exported to the United States.PPM officials, however, were notsatisfied with the prices they received inthe U.S. market during 1980 and 1981.Some PPM officials reportedly believethat developing the domestic marketwill help reduce the dependence on theU.S. market. The February 1982 float­ing of the Mexican peso sharply in­creased the value of the U.S. dollar inpesos and, as a result, the potentialreturns from shrimp exports in termsof U.S. dollars may make it difficultfor PPM to divert shrimp from exportmarkets to the domestic market.

Bellot also indicated that PPM plansto promote the marketing of squid.While not as important as tuna, sar­dines, and shrimp, Mexican fishermenhave recently developed a new fisheryfor giant squid in the Gulf of Cali­fornia. PPM plans to promote exportsas well as the marketing of frozen andcured fishery products in the domesticmarket. (Source: IFR 82/70.)

'See "The expansion of the Mexican tunaOeet, 1981-1984," Mar. Fish. Rev. 44(8):25-29.

27

Latin American Fishery Officials ListedThe NMFS Division of Foreign

Fisheries Analysis, which regularlymonitors worldwide fishery develop­ments, has prepared the following list

AntiguaC. CamachoFisheries AdvisorMinistry of Agriculture and SupplyLong StreetSt. Johns, Antigua

ArgentinaSubsecretarioSubsecretaria de PescaSan Martin 459, Piso 2Buenos Aires, ArgentinaTelephone: 44-6879

BahamasRonald W. ThompsonDirector of FisheriesP.O. Box N 3028Nassau, BahamasTelephone: 809-322-1277

BarbadosRobert HastingsMinistry of Agriculture, Food,

and Consumer AffairsCodrington, St. MichaelBarbados

BelizeGeorge Winston MillerFisheries AdministratorFisheries UnitMinistry of Trade and IndustriesP.O. Box 148Belize City, BelizeTelephone: 02-4552, 4708

BermudaDr. James B. HerkesDirector of Agriculture and

FisheriesP.O. Box 834Hamilton 5, Bermuda

BoliviaDepartamento de Vida Silvestre,

y Pesca Parques Nacionales, CazaCasilla 936La Paz, Bolivia

BrazilDr. Roberto Ferreira do AmaralSuperintendentSuperintendencia do Desenvolvi-

mento da Pesca (SUDEPE)Avenida W-3 NorteQuadra 506, Bloco C. Lote 7Brazil

British Virgin IslandsMinistry of Communications,

Works, and IndustryRoadtown, TortolaBritish Virgin Islands

28

of the names and addresses of fisheryofficials in almost 40 Latin Americancountries. Any readers who have up­dated names or addresses for these of-

ChileRoberto Verdugo GormazSubsecretario de PescaMinisterio de EconomiaTeatinos 120, Piso 11, Oficina 43Santiago, Chile

ColombiaDr. Gabriel AceuedoSubgerencia de Fomento de

Pesca y Fauna TerrestreInstituto de Recursos Naturales

Renovables (INDERENA)Ministerio de AgriculturaCalle 26 No. 13-B-47,Bogota, Colombia

Costa RicaIng. Eduardo Bravo, DirectorDepartamento de Flora y FaunaMinisterio de Agricultura y

GanaderiaApartado 11094Costa Rica, San Jose

CubaJorge A. Fernandez Cuervo-VinentMinisterio de la Industria PesqueraApartado Postal 605La Habana 1, Cuba

DominicaHeskeith AlexanderMinistry of Agriculture, Land, Forestry,

Fisheries, and CooperativesGovernment HeadquartersKennedy AvenueRoseau, DominicaTelephone: 2401 Ext. 285

Dominican RepublicCpt. Narciso AlmanteDireccion General de Recursos

PesquerosSecretaria de Estado de AgriculturaCentro de los HeroesSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic

EcuadorTully LoorSubsecretaria de PescaMinisterio de Recursos Naturales

y EnergeticosStreet address unknownGuayaquil, Ecuador

EI SalvadorLie. Napoleon SalamancaDirector GeneralDirectorio General de Desarrollo

Industrial y ControlMinisterio de Economia4A Avenida Norte No. 210San Salvador, EI SalvadorTelephone: 21-1884

ficials are requested to send that infor­mation to the Division (F/IA-I),NMFS, NOAA, Washington, D.C.20235.

GrenadaJames FinlayMinistry of Agro-IndustryBelmont, St. GeorgesFisheries OfficerGrenada

GuatemalaLuis Fernando MartinezDirector of FisheriesDivision de Fauna, Pesca y AquaculturaDireccion General de Recursos

Naturales RenovablesAvenida del Observatorio, Zona 13Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

French GuianaGerard PaulmierInstitute Scientifique et Tech­

nique des Peches MaritimesLaboratoire de CayeneCayenne, French Guiana

GuadeloupeNo information

GuyanaRueben CharlesChief Fisheries Officer39 BrickdamGeorgetown, GuyanaTelephone: 61833

HaitiEmmanual GarnierDirecteur de Service de PecheriesDepartment de I'Agriculture47 Ave. Marie JeanneDamien, Port-au-PrinceHaiti

HondurasLie. Humberto CaballeroDirector-General de Recursos

Naturales RenovablesEdificio Talavera8 Ave., 11-12 CalleComayaguela, D.C., Honduras

JamaicaEustace A. RoyerDirector of FisheriesFisheries DivisionMinistry of AgricultureMarcus Garvey Dr.P.O. Box 470Kingston 6, Jamaica

MartiniqueMr. JeffreyAffaires MaritimesBoulevard ChevelierSt. Marthe97200 Ft. de FranceMartinique

Marine Fisheries Review

MexicoLie. Fernando Rafful MiguelSecretaria de PescaAlvaro Obregon 269Mexico, D.F., Mexico

MontserratMinistry of Agriculture, Trade,

Lands, and HousingAddress not available

Netherland AntillesGeraard van BuurtFisheries Section HeadDepartment of Agriculture

and FisheriesKlein Kwartier 33Curacao, Netherlands Antilles

Trinidad and TobagoHugh E. WoodSenior Fisheries OfficerFisheries DivisionMinistry of Agriculture,

Lands and FisheriesSI. Clair CirclePort of Spain, TrinidadTelephone: 25715

Turks and CaicosNo information

UruguayCpt. (C/N) U. Walter Perez

DirectorInstituto Nacional de Pesca (INAPE)Ministerio de Agricultura y PescaConstituyente 1476Montevideo, Uruguay

VenezuelaLie. Carlos E. GimenezDirectorDireccion General de Desar-

rollo PesqueroMinisterio de Agricultura y CriaTorre Norte, Piso 9Centro Simon BolivarCaracas, Venezuela

NicaraguaAlfredo AoanizInstituto Nicaraguense de

la PescaApartado 2020Managua, Nicaragua

PanamaLuis RodriguezDirectorio General de

Recursos MarinosP.O. Box 3318Panama 4, Panama

ParaguaySeccion de PescaMinisterio de AgriculturaPte. Franco y 14 de MayoAsuncion, Paraguay

PeruRene DeustuaMinistro de PesqueriaJavier Prado Este 2465Lima 30, Peru

Puerto RicoInoel RiveraCODREMARDepartment of Natural ResourcesSan Juan, Puerto Rico 00903

St. Christopher-Nevis-AnguillaMinistry of Agriculture, Lands,

Housing, Labor, Trade,Industry, and Development

Government HeadquartersP.O. Box 186Basseterre, SI. Kitts

Mexican Shrimp FleetTransferred to Coops

The Mexican government has begunto fulfill a promise made to fisher­men's cooperatives in the 1930's. Thegovernment is financing the purchaseof all the country's privately-ownedshrimp trawlers by the cooperativesand the purchase of shrimp processingplants by the state-owned company,Productos Pesqueros Mexicanos. Thevessel purchases are being financed bythe Banco Nacional Pesquero y Portu­ario (Banpesca).

Pacific coast trawlers were trans­ferred in October and November of1981. Gulf of Mexico trawlers were tobe transferred in February 1982, butdisputes between the owners and thecooperatives over prices delayed thetransfer. Unlike the Pacific coast coop­eratives, few Gulf of Mexico coopera­tives own their own trawlers. As aresult of the delay, many vessels weretied up in port during January,February, and March 1982. Reports

from Mexico indicated that as of earlyApril about 90 percent of the vesselshad been transferred to and deployedby the cooperatives. The impasse hassignificantly affected 1982 Mexicanshrimp exports to the United States.

A "productivity program" involvedin the transfer stipulates that certainamounts of finfish must also be fishedby the shrimp trawlers. Also, theshrimp by-catch will have to be takento port. A logbook system is to be in­stituted to help define fishing areas andresources available, according to theMexican Secretariat of Fisheries.

The Secretariat has prepared a5-page report on the transfer of thevessels, detailing the procedures forappraising and transferring the vessels,the government's role, and how the co­operatives will pay back the govern­ment. A copy can be obtained by re­questing "Mexican Shrimp Fleet"(IFR-82/5l) from local NMFS Statis­tics and Market News Offices, enclos­ing a large self-addressed envelopewith $0.37 postage.

Japan's 1982 lall chum salmon catch lorecasl.

Catch (1.000 fish)1982/1981

1982 1981 ComparisonForecast Actual catch (%)

Pacific OceanNemuro area 5,874.7E. of Cape Erimo 5,678.1W. of Cape Erimo 4,151.9

104

117

10299

118

105

5,761.45,759.23,519.2

1,303.81,112.0

5,991.8 5,774.2

23,000.3 21,926.0

Area

Okhotsk Sea

Japan Sea

Total

Japan Expects RecordFall Chum Salmon Catch

Japan's 1982 fall chum salmoncatch off Hokkaido will be a recordhigh, according to a forecast made bythe Japan Fishery Agency's HokkaidoSalmon Hatchery. The announcedforecast is shown below by area incomparison with 1981 actual catches.(Source: FFIR 82-14.)

SurinameF. VredenMinister of Agriculture, Fish­

eries and ForestryCultuurtuinlaanParamaribo, Suriname

St. VincentNo information

St. LuciaH. D. WaltersFisheries OfficerMinistry of Agriculture, Lands,

Fisheries, and Laborand Cooperatives

Castries, SI. Lucia

November 1982,44(11) 29