por What are the fishing spaces?
The fishing spaces of a country are the areas or regions dedicated to maritime or aquaculture fishing exploitation. They are generally located on the coasts or coastlines and also in large rivers and lagoons rich in fish species.
These spaces are part of the territorial sea or the continental shelf; that is, the submarine continuation of a continent. They are often a source of conflict and rivalry between fishing countries and between fishermen from the same country.
The use of abundant fishing resources that are close to territorial waters permanently generate international lawsuits and litigation. These problems are more or less similar in all countries due to the invasion of territorial waters.
Mexico is one of the Latin American countries with the largest fishing grounds, both due to its extensive coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it has not been exempt from these problems.
Characteristics of fishing areas
– Are those strips or regions of a country with capacity for maritime or aquaculture fishing, of an industrial or artisanal nature.
– In the case of maritime fishing space, it is an area that goes from the coast up to 200 nautical miles (370 km), on which line the exclusive economic zone (ZEE) of a country is delimited. It is also called heritage sea.
– There are other freshwater aquaculture fishing spaces, such as ponds, rivers and lakes, among others.
– The organized exploitation of fishing for commercial purposes is known as a fishery. Its objective is to combine efforts to capture fish and other aquatic species for marketing and sale.
– Other by-products are obtained from industrial fishing, such as fishmeal and fish oils for human and animal consumption.
– There are several examples of fishing areas and fisheries in the world: the salmon fishery in Alaska, the cod fishery in Norway, the tuna fishery in Japan or the Pacific, the hake fishery in the Atlantic Ocean or the shrimp fishery in Peru.
the fisheries
Most of the fisheries are marine and are located close to the coast for legal and economic reasons, precisely in the exclusive economic zone or fishing space of the country.
But they also extend over the contiguous waters of the continental shelf, which are generally richer in marine fauna due to the availability of krill, phytoplankton and other nutrients.
The fisheries use an entire infrastructure to be able to operate: personnel, fishing equipment, boats to catch fish and cellars to transport the fish.
They also use spaces and equipment for refrigeration and storage, for product processing, for packaging and transportation, and for distribution.
The capture method used by the fishmonger depends on the market to which it is directed. It can be trawling, longline, aquaculture, among others.
Common International Fisheries Problems
Conflicts and problems derived from fishing are diverse and common to countries that have great fishing potential.
Among the main complications are disputes between fleets of different nationalities that operate in fisheries in the territorial waters of a country.
These problems occur more frequently between nations with territorial disputes, because the areas where they fish are claimed by both countries.
Likewise, conflicts are generated by the control and exploitation of common fishing areas or shared fisheries.
There are consuming countries with a long fishing tradition that are not satisfied with exploiting their fishing resources, but also dedicate themselves to exploiting other seas and foreign fishing spaces and generating conflicts. Such is the case in Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia.
Many of these countries use fleets with “flags of convenience” from other countries to try to deceive the authorities and take advantage of the fishing resources of the country they enter.
Other actors that act illegally are the companies of a certain country, which are dedicated to exploiting foreign fishing spaces and commercializing marine products in another nation.
Fishing conflict cases
An example of abusive exploitation of fishing spaces was the case of Namibia in the Atlantic. Its resources were used by fleets from the USSR and Spain, while the African nation received meager compensation. Following their independence, these fleets were expelled in 1986.
The disputes between Spanish-flagged swordfish fishing vessels with the Chilean government, which does not allow the use of its ports to unload their catches, are also well known.
This has led to complaints from the European Union before the World Trade Organization (WTO).
But disputes over fishing spaces not only arise between countries, but also between national actors dedicated to this industry.
Conflicts between small fishing fleets and other large fishing fleets in the same country are frequent, as well as between fishermen dedicated to wild fishing and those dedicated to aquaculture activities.
An example of this type of confrontation was the one that sustained the shrimp fisheries in Mexico: the conflicts between cooperatives and large private companies in the states of Sinaloa and Sonora, generated in 1992 after the change in the Fisheries Law.
Fishing areas of Mexico
As has already been said, Mexico has extensive fishing areas due to the enormous extension of its coasts along the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The country has 11,000 km of coastline on both ocean fronts and 17 of its states have coastlines, not counting the additional 500,000 km² of continental shelf.
It is the fourth most important fishing country on the continent and the seventeenth worldwide. The fishing spaces of Mexico are divided into five regions:
Region I
It is the most important in the country. It covers the states of the Baja California peninsula and the continental shelves of Sonora and Sinaloa.
In this fishing region, tuna, mullet, shrimp, squid, sardines, sagazo, sea cucumber and anchoveta, among other species, are caught.
Region II
It includes the states of Nayarit and Chiapas, Colima, Michoacán and Guerrero, in whose coastal corridor a high volume of catches of species such as tuna, carp, mojarra, skipjack and red snapper is generated.
Region III
This region is made up of the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Veracruz. It is the second most important Mexican region by volume of catches.
The most outstanding species are the mojarra, the crab and the oyster. Additionally, in Tamaulipas large shipments of shrimp are captured, in addition to fish species.
Region IV
It includes the states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Tabasco. The largest oil deposits in Mexico are found in this region, the exploitation of which produces high levels of contamination, affecting fishing production.
The most important species are the mojarra, the oyster, the shark, the dogfish and the octopus.
Region V
It is made up of all landlocked states whose production and fishing spaces are the product of aquaculture or breeding of aquatic species in ponds, lakes, rivers, lakes or dams and canals.
From here, freshwater species such as trout, mojarras, catfish, charales and carp are obtained, and other saltwater species such as lobster and shrimp.
References
Fishing in Mexico. Retrieved from bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx
Agricultural and fishing policy in Mexico, recent achievements continuation of the reforms. oecd. Retrieved from books.google.com
Fishing industry. Consulted from es.wikipedia.org