There is great expectation on the coast of Santa Catarina for the start of the mullet harvest in May. The release of industrial fishing and the slight increase in the artisanal catch quota for ringed gillnets for Santa Catarina were published in an order from the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, this Monday, April 1st. The publication also disclosed the vessels qualified to obtain special temporary fishing authorization to capture mullet (Mugil liza) in 2024.
According to the Secretary of Aquaculture and Fisheries of the State, Tiago Bolan Frigo, the limitation imposed on Santa Catarina in 2023 caused direct losses to the Santa Catarina economy of at least R$10 million, with a zero quota being established for industrial fishing and a reduced quota for artisanal fishing. ringed net. “To guarantee the income of families in the fishing chain, the Government of Santa Catarina insistently requested the review of the Interministerial Ordinance MPA / MMA of 2023, including judicially”, he recalls.
This year, the authorized catch quota for purse seine/trawler fishing (industrial) is 480 tons. For artisanal ringed gillnet fishing, it is 586 tons. According to Frigo, the increase was below the fishermen’s expectations defended in numerous meetings with the MPA.
Last year in Lagoa dos Patos, in Rio Grande do Sul (according to information from the MPA), a quantity of mullet was caught well above the historical average. The fact could impact the fish harvest in Santa Catarina this year, explains the secretary, who questions the metrics used by the Federal Government to impose restrictions on the fishing fleet in Santa Catarina.
The State Government, through the Secretariat of Aquaculture and Fisheries created by Governor Jorginho Mello, is attentive to ensuring the development of the fishing sector and to mitigating the losses caused by restrictions last year, he highlights.
Tags: month start mullet harvest measures ease fishing sectors apprehension Economy
