New tool for keeping track of ITQ – Fishupdate.com

New tool for keeping track of ITQ Published:  07 March, 2011

Argentinian shipowners have a new tool for keeping track of their Individual, Transferable Catch Quotas (ITQ).

This is a result of www.citc.gob.ar in which registered users that are involved in Argentine hake, hoki, southern blue whiting and Patagonian toothfish fisheries will be able to access it.

On that site, fishermen can get quick information and updates on the progress of their catches, transfers and biological closures, among other data.

The Federal Fisheries Law No. 24,922, of Article 27, provides a substantive change in the legal regime of fisheries to establish a “Management System for Individual, Transferable Catch Quotas,” which replaces the Olympic-access system that was in effect before.

The ITQ is a temporary grant by the state to the owner of a fishing permit, which enables the capture of a percentage of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of a particular species and whose magnitude, expressed in tonnes, will be established each year according to the TAC.

Since its launch, fishing permits were transformed into allotments granted to ships to enter only a specific fishery, as it is necessary to have an allocated catch quota or an authorization for captures to work within a fishery.

The ITQ system is already used by major fishing powers of the world because it provides legal certainty for companies as well as the ability to plan their longer-term activity.

It also allows them to know in advance what their catch volumes are with which operators can manage industrial activity.

In this way, they encourage investment and enterprise growth, eliminating the existence of informal employment whilst facilitating controls over all activity which is transparent, according to the Argentine fisheries authorities.