109 Shrimping Boats In Sonora Were Retired From Service

Release
Issue #455

The fishing sector of Sonora retired from service a total of 109 large vessels used to capture shrimp, putting an end for the State of the program from the Federal Government to reduce the fishing efforts.

On 2005 the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Alimentation (SAGARPA) started the program to withdraw boats, making more sustainable the fishing activity and increase the availability of marine resources at the coast.

The participation of the fishermen in this program is voluntary, because it aims at stopping operating boats that are not economically feasible because of their old age, and as compensation they have received a million pesos from the Federal Government (~$93k USD).

The Fishing sub-delegate from the SAGARPA in Sonora, Daniel Villareal Guardiana, mentioned that in Sonora during the last 3 years, 109 large boats dedicated to fishing shrimp in the high seas were retired from service.

He pointed that the shrimp fishing fleet of the entity was composed of 531 vessels, and 109 of those were retired under the program to reduce the fishing effort, so there are still 422 operating boats, with an average age of 25 years.

The functionary explained that this plan to reduce the fishing fleet in the Country aims to increase the availability for the diverse fisheries and make the activity more sustainable, besides caring and preserving for marine resources.

He said that the main objective of the program is "to give more sustainability to the fishing resource and those who will remain in the activity will be the most competitive and with the capability to deal with bigger volume of capture".

He commented that the available volumes of shrimp at Sonora's coast, with an average capture of 5500 tons per fishing season, hardly can be improved and that's why it is necessary to obtain a better use of the resource.

In this program, the boats that will be retired from the activity must be in operational condition and the fishermen must accept the compromise to dismantle them and return to the authorities their shrimp fishing permit, to receive in compensation one million pesos.

The 109 boats retired belonged to associations and cooperatives from the ports of Guaymas, Puerto Peñasco and Yavaros, and were in optimal conditions for operations, but their maintenance expenses were too high.

The President of the Producers and Shipbuilders Association from Guaymas, Alma Mireya Acuña Gomez, exposed that the resources received by the fishermen for their participation on this program will mostly be reinvested in the maintenance of other ships.

She said that with the implementation of the program to reduce the fishing efforts on the coasts of Sonora, in the case of shrimp fishing, it could be observed positive results that will benefit the producers of the sector.

She pointed that the boats that remain in operation must be rehabilitated and that they have asked the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fishing (CONAPESCA) to support efforts to modernize the fishing fleet.

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