SAVE THE WHALE SANCTUARY IN URUGUAYAN WATERS AND SOUTHWEST ATLANTIC REGION THREATENED BY CHINESE AND IUU FISHING.

We need to stop a massive, Chinese-financed fisheries development in Uruguay– which threatens to wipe-out local and sustainable fishing and will devastate marine life – and act now to establish uruguayan regulated fishing and marine protected areas.

Despite Uruguayan territorial waters and EEZ (125,057 km²) being declared a “Sanctuary for Whale and Dolphins” (Law 19.128/ 2013), key marine species is increasing threats by unsustainable fisheries and artisanal communnities that depend of it. This is aggravated by large Chinese Fishing and vessels facility investors for a large-scale port for fish processing, fishmeal production (230.000 tons/ year) and fleet repair (500 ships).

The aim of this project is avoid the development of the Chinese Port and to assess, urgently, the scale and range of potential marine impacts – IUU fishing (Ilegal, Undeclared, Unregulated) and the negative impacts of by-catch in several species in the IUCN Red List. Consequences of a fisheries collapse will cause the plumbing of all the species that live in the region, including other species that feed the species targeted by the IUU fleet: penguins, sea elephants, seals, dolphins, sperm whales and other non commercial fish.

The citizenship has shown totally ignore these problems, including Parliamentarians and decision makers, a small percentage is aware, and they are very concerned about the future of the marine heritage, including artisanal fishing communities that depend on it to survive. We can create the conditions for a regional debate over how to protect/manage the South Atlantic through local sustainable regulated fisheries and MPAs. The Plan includes co-management of the monitoring, control and surveillance of ships and ports that could be extrapolated worldwide.

Illegal, undeclared and unregistered (IUU) fishing – of which 40% is Chinese – is one of the biggest cause of overfishing and the collapse of fisheries (80% overexploited, FAO) and threats the South Atlantic and Sub Antarctic Ocean ecosystems must be stopped. It is one The only effective way to save the South Atlantic from an escalade of the already vast and damaging IUU fishing fleet is to avoid building industrial fisheries developments and reinforce the monitoring, controls and surveillance of each government together civil society in national waters and Southwest Atlantic. The economies of Latin American coastal communities are dependent on fishing, and are already affected by the increase of the intense fishing pressure from industrial foreign fleets. Environmental, social, and economic are a standpoint to join the cause and a extrapolate example of local co-managment.