Argentine fishing industry suffers

Overfishing has endangered some species of fish

By Doreen Walton BBC World Business Report

Argentina's government has been accused of destroying the country's fishing industry.

In a bid to get foreign money to pay off huge debts and help solve the country's economic problems the government has sold fishing permits to fleets mainly from Europe and East Asia.

Overfishing by foreign vessels has now brought numbers of some species dangerously close to collapse.

Some fishing communities are now struggling to survive.

Communities are suffering socially as well as economically as fishermen often spend as much as a month away at a time.

Some fishermen only return home for one day between jobs.

Market slump

Between 1985 and 1995, fishing exports grew by nearly 500% - but the catch has now slumped.

Jose Benvenuto, secretary general of Argentina's National Fishing Captain's union, says unemployment in some fishing areas is more than 25%.

The problems affect not only people on the boats, but also people in associated industries on shore, he says.

In an effort to remedy the situation and give fish stocks the chance to recover, the government has reduced the number of permits it sells.

But illegal fishing is also a big problem and local workers allege that foreign boats are the main culprits for breaking the rules.

Difficult position

The economic crisis means the authorities do not have the resources to police the waters effectively.

As the cash crisis deepens the pressure is on the government to bring in foreign money and sell more fishing permits.

But this would mean continued destruction of what was once a plentiful and lucrative natural resource.