A law banning midwater trawling and purse seine fishing for jumbo cuttlefish (Dosidicus gigas) takes effect Aug. 16, despite attempts to delay the implementation of the new ruling, reports Diario Financiero.
The law affects fishing giants Landes, Pacific Blu (Blumar), Pesquera Alimar, and Pesquera San Lazaro.
In total, there are six trawlers operating and landing around 40,000 metric tons of the resource, or 20 percent of the annual quota.
“We are sacrificing employment and exports,” said Juan Andres Fontaine, minister of economy of Chile, following the vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
“I was hoping that reason would prevail.”
The law has been largely opposed by the industrial fleet, as it is expected to slash around 1,800 jobs by stopping industrial fishing altogether and forcing companies to shut down processing plants.
Although the law is implemented on artisanal fishing protection grounds, there are also concerns that the resource is swimming farther away from the coast, which will impede coastal fishing vessels to land their quotas.
