CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Past Seminars

Thursday 20 November 2003, 11.30 am (Tas time)

CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Dario Rivas
Sub-secretariat of Fisheries, Government of Chile

The case of the orange roughy fishery in Chile:
is sustainable management possible?

Chile has a long tradition of fishing: landings in its Exclusive Economic Zone are the 6th at world level (FAO, 2001). However, the exploitation of deep sea fisheries is a relatively recent event. The setting-up of the democratic régime in 1990 resulted in the promulgation of a new Chilean Law of Fishing and Aquaculture which provided a unique legal and management framework for developing fisheries. The system entails a form of “rental” transferable property rights, good for 10 years. Annually, 10% of the available rights are publicly auctioned. The system requires setting an annual total allowable catch (TAC), which is than proportioned to quota holders.

The fishery for orange roughy (ORH) in Chile has been managed under this system from its beginnings (in 1999), with the maximum quota of 2,500. The Chilean fisheries management agency (Under-secretariat for Fisheries) has been faced with the challenge of developing an objective basis for setting sustainable quotas while at the same time allowing for efficient economic utilisation of the resource. Research adopted a classic focus at the beginning (ie, age studies and growth, reproductive cycle, maturity, CPUE, etc.), which has been useful but insufficient in the short term. The high-monitoring and control costs of the fishery motivated an agreement between the Under-secretariat and the stakeholders for co-management of the fishery in Chile. In that context, an advisory technical committee (CTA-ORH) was established to coordinate research activities between the State, universities and fishing companies, and a collaborative research program was initiated (with the advice of Dr. Kloser) to undertake biomass surveys, develop a low cost monitoring system and collect biological, ecological and environmental data. The fishery, management and research results to date will be discussed.

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