The fishing spaces of a country are the areas or regions dedicated to the marine or aquaculture fishing exploitation. They are usually located on the coasts or littorals 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 underwater continuation of a continent. Many times they are a source of conflict and rivalries between fishing countries and between fishermen of the same country.
The exploitation of the abundant fishing resources that are close to the 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 countries in Latin America that has the largest fishing grounds, both for its extensive coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, he has not been exempt from these problems.
What are the fishing spaces?
The fishing areas are those regions or regions of a country with a vocation for marine or aquaculture fishing, industrial or artisanal.
In the case of the maritime fishing area, it is an area that goes from the coast to 200 nautical miles (370 km), in whose line the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of a country is delimited. It is also called heritage sea.
But there are also other aquaculture freshwater fishing spaces, such as ponds, rivers and lakes, among others.
The organized exploitation of fishing for commercial purposes is known as the fishery. Its objective is to combine efforts to capture fish and other aquatic species for commercialization and sale.
Other byproducts are obtained from industrial fishing, such as flours and fish oils for human and animal consumption.
There are several examples of fishing spaces and fisheries in the world: salmon fishery in Alaska, cod fishery in Norway, tuna fishery in Japan or the Pacific, hake in the Atlantic Ocean or shrimp in Peru.
Fisheries
Most of the fisheries are marine and are located near 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 usually 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 for the capture of fish and caves for the transport of fish.
They also use spaces and equipment for refrigeration and storage, for product processing, for packaging and transport, and for distribution.
The method of capture used by the fish market depends on the market to which it is directed. It can be trawl, longline, aquaculture, among others.
Common international fishing problems
The 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 of territorial waters of a country.
These problems occur more frequently among 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 spaces or shared fisheries.
There are consumer countries with a long tradition of fishing that are not satisfied with exploiting their fishing resources, but also are dedicated to exploiting other seas and fishing spaces of others and generate conflicts. Such is the case of 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 commercialize marine products in another nation.
Cases of fisheries conflicts
An example of exploitation of fishing spaces in an abusive manner was the case of Namibia in the Atlantic. Its resources were used by fleets of the USSR and Spain, while the African nation received a meager compensation.
After their independence these fleets were expelled in 1986.
There are also known disputes between fishing vessels of swordfish of Spanish flag with the Chilean government, which does not allow the use of their ports to discharge their catches.
This has led to complaints from the European Union before the World Trade Organization (WTO).
But the disputes for fishing spaces are not only between countries, but also between national actors dedicated to this industry.
There are frequent conflicts between small fishing fleets and others of great importance in the same country, as well as between fishermen engaged in wild fishing and those engaged in aquaculture activities.
An example of this type of confrontation was the one held by 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 of the Fisheries Law.
Fishing areas of Mexico
As has already been said, Mexico has extensive fishing spaces 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 oceanic facades and 17 of its states have coastline, not counting the additional 500,000 km² of continental shelf.
It is the fourth largest fishing country in the continent and the seventeenth in the world. The fishing areas of Mexico are divided into five regions:
Region I
It is the most important in the country. It covers the states of the peninsula of Baja California and the continental shelves of Sonora and Sinaloa.
In this fishing region tuna, mullet, shrimp, squid, sardine, sagazo, sea cucumber and anchoveta, among other species, are caught.
Region II
It includes the states of Nayarit and Chiapas, Colima, Michoacán and Guerrero, whose coastal corridor generates a high volume of catches of species such as tuna, carp, mojarra, skipjack and red snapper.
Region III
This region is made up of the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Veracruz. It is the second most important Mexican region due to the volume of catches.
The most outstanding species are the mojarra, the crab and the oyster. Additionally, in Tamaulipas, high loads of shrimp are caught, in addition to the fish species.
Region IV
It includes the states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Tabasco. In this region are the largest deposits of oil in Mexico, whose exploitation produces high levels of pollution 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 states without coast 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 you get freshwater species such as trout, mojarras, catfish, charales and carp, and other saltwater such as lobster and shrimp.
References
- Fishing in Mexico Retrieved on January 29, 2018 from bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx
- Carlos Ramírez Estrada, Anabel Quinero Marmol H. The Sea and its resources in the Pacific account. University of Colima. Recovered from books.google.co.ve
- Miriam Juárez Torres, María de la Luz Flores Escobar and José de Luna Martínez. The fishing sector in Mexico (2007). Recovered from books.google.co.ve
- Alejandro Vicchi. Deep sea fishing as a source of international conflicts. Uces, 2010.
- Agricultural and fisheries policy in Mexico, recent achievements, continuation of the reforms. Ocde. Recovered from books.google.co.ve
- Fishing industry. Consulted on es.wikipedia.org