Second closure period for tropical tuna in the country began this Tuesday

Manta, MANABÍ

Some 51 tuna vessels with more than 182 metric tons of carrying capacity were welcomed from this Tuesday to the second period of closure of tropical tuna, which will last 72 days and will end on January 19.

In the country, 105 vessels of these characteristics are registered and those that comply with this process of suspending activities at sea, thus complying with the regulatory measures established at the 92nd meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (CIAT), held in Mexico in 2017.

Last July, some 54 vessels with more than 182 tons of capacity stopped their activities in the first ban in the country, a period in which the unloadings and transshipments of tuna or derived products that have been positively identified as originating from activities are prohibited. fishing.

The annual catches of tuna by the Ecuadorian industrial fleet are between 250,000 and 300,000 metric tons each year. On an annual average, the export activity of tuna and derivatives represents an income of $ 1,600 million.

Ecuador will insist on a ban on tuna

In this closed period, the activity between personnel dedicated to painting, cleaning boats, and even giving other maintenance to the ships and renovation of fishing gear and navigation equipment is reactivated.

A statistic from the Manta Port Authority, more than 61,000 metric tons of fishing were unloaded in 2020 at the Fishing and Cabotage Terminal of this Manabi port, and by the first half of 2021 another 45,782 metric tons of tuna had been unloaded.

Ecuador processes more than 500,000 tons of tuna annually, of which between 55% and 60% is caught by the Ecuadorian tuna fleet, and the rest is imported, to later export to countries such as the European Union that buys more than 60 % of tuna processed in our country, followed by the United States and several Latin American countries. (I)