The fishing industry, according to the latest available data (first half of 2023), The eighth export complex of the Argentine economy. This is preceded only by the following activities: soybeans, automotive, petroleum products, corn, meat, precious metals (gold and silver), and barley. A size of capital that clashes with the “terrible degree of ignorance” of the sector, as a spokesman for one of the country’s largest shipowners explained to the Prensa Ibérica group’s Faro de Vigo. So in recent weeks delegations of businessmen have had to explain to legislators what a fishing area is, what it means to have a dedicated marine area 200 miles offshore along the entire coast, or that there are various species of hake. in its waters. And although Argentina’s constitution stipulates that “all residents may be admitted to jobs without any conditions other than suitability” (article 16), “you cannot allow clueless officials to draft laws of this magnitude.” This manager refers to: rope The case of the ultra-liberal Javier Milei, who has tabled the complete liberalization of fishing, which would threaten the continuity of the fleet of the capital of Galicia. These days the industry faces an urgent task: to raise awareness among MPs and senators to cancel the “ideas of freedom” decree and save a business worth more than 400 million euros a year.
Essentially, Casa Rosada is shooting two arrows and poses a risk of collapse for the industry in Argentina. The most high-profile include: international fishing permit auction and access, without having to download at local ports without the obligation to hire crew or invest. This is the one that will take back from the Galician capital companies the rights acquired as a result of more than 30 years of presence and development in the country. The second, shared by industry sources consulted, is the most urgent: setting a tax of 15% above the value of all exports. “It goes directly into companies’ coffers, this is extremely serious and we need to stop it now.” Only for companies owned by Galician groups (Iberconsa, Nueva Pescanova, Profand, Wofco, Vieira, Videmar or Gandón) great rate As FARO progresses, this amount will exceed 50 million euros per year. “We are getting lost, we are far away now” break even (cover the expenses),” they add. The two missiles, which are aimed at an auction of fishing rights and an export tax, are included in the Decree of Need and Urgency (DNU 30/2023), which Milei wants to approve this month.
The country’s fisheries chambers go hand in hand with the governors of the Patagonian provinces and Buenos Aires. “We give good news to MPs and senators. As we said here, they are naked. The lack of information is terrible and is also due to the failure of the industry itself, which never knows how to sell its activity,” shares a shipowner with a dozen ships and processing plants in Mar del Plata. Are there options to stop it? macro decree or DNU in the legislative chambers? Everything is clear for now. “Right now we only have a bouquet of flowers, many promises but no guarantee. The atmosphere is heating up.” Because the scenario was already extremely complex before Milei’s legislative threshold. As the Mar del Plata expert portal points out Pescare“Last year’s prices brought the business close to a loss of $300 per ton” in shrimp alone, he said. For the main references of the Galician capital in Argentina alone, the loss on this product exceeds 18 million euros due to depreciation, also taking into account fleet, processing and logistics costs. The price reached $5,800 per ton; For example, the average for the post-COVID year (2021) was $7,250 per ton. The Christmas campaign did not serve as a stimulus, at least in Spain; There was no turnback.
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The support of the governors of Patagonia, Gustavo Melella (Tierra del Fuego), Claudio Vidal (Santa Cruz), Ignacio Torres (Chubut), Rolando Figueroa (Neuquén) and Alberto Weretilneck (Río Negro) and Buenos Aires (Axel Kicillof) shows how much the economy of these regions It shows that you are in danger. Fishing products suffered greatly until the ultraliberals came to power. gradual withholding tax on exports: The more added value was given to land-based species, the less they would have to pay. Your DNU is a Unique 15% for all productsRegardless of the treatment and regardless of the processing and employment generation in areas such as Puerto Deseado, Mar del Plata or Puerto Madryn. “No one will bring you here, take the product and say: let someone else do it“, Pablo Trueba, secretary general of the Sea Fishermen’s Association (Simape), illustrated to this newspaper. Thus, states will be left without the tools to stimulate job creation and wealth creation, and companies will have to compete with vannamei shrimp (derived from aquaculture) and avoid being sold as commodity products.” He will not be able to value a product that he has to avoid. commodity.
And of course this 15% was added as well. Intensive entry of international shipowners -first of all AsiaAs all opinions consulted agreed, this regulation, in addition to charging fees for auctioning licenses, would turn Argentina into a resource extraction hotspot. “It’s a nonsense that leaves us out of the market, we are struggling but we have many conditions against us,” the same sources summarize. Not only because of the reluctance of Milei, who is not willing to change even a single comma of his DNU, but also because of heterogeneous legislators who are unaware of the industry and have no problem sacrificing the existing Federal Fisheries Act. supposedly for the sake of a larger collection and breaking all ties with Peronism. “The agenda has been completed, this week will be decisive,” he said.