From legal frameworks to practice: challenges for implementing the SSF Guidelines in Argentina

CINTI ANA; GÓNGORA MARIA; SÁNCHEZ CARNERO NOELA; VENERUS LEONARDO; ANTON GUSTAVO; PIÑERO MARTA; VARISCO MARTÍN; PARMA ANA

Merida

Congreso; 4WSFC Latin America and The Caribbean; 2022

TBTI

Argentina has a huge marine wealth associated with its fish resources,which support several high-volume, export-oriented industrial fisheries with total landings close to 800,000 tons. Compared to the industrial sector which expanded greatly over the last 40 years, artisanal fisheries have remained insignificant in terms of landings and value, receiving little attention from governments despite their local importance. Argentina is a federal country with five coastal provinces which have jurisdiction and rule over the marine resources within 12 nautical miles from the shore (also in the gulfs). As each province manages artisanal fisheries within its territorial waters, the importance assigned to them, the legal frameworks available and their degree of application vary greatly among provinces. In a fewcases, municipal governments become involved with small-scale fisheries and have generated policies. Given the complex multilevel governance of small-scale fisheries, we reviewed the main national and provincial laws and policies, and the few cases that were litigated in court, to evaluate the extent of adherence -in written form- to the principles of the SSF guidelines. This review was complemented by a detailed analysis of the legal instruments in use, fishers' knowledge about these instruments, and perceptions of key actors involved in judicialized cases from Buenos Aires and Chubut, two provinces with a long history and large development of small-scale fisheries. These cases illustrate the main limitations and challenges faced by the artisanal sector, and how far the country is from implementing the guidelines.