Artisanal marine fisheries in Argentina: evolution, typologies and priorities for management

SÁNCHEZ-CARNERO, N.; GÓNGORA, M. E.; ÁLVAREZ, M.; PARMA, A. M.

REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2025

0960-3166

Argentina has around 5,000 km of coastlineand one of the world’s largest continental shelves.Its enormous marine wealth supports a thriving largescaleindustrial fishery. In contrast, the artisanal fishingsector remains far less developed. Its origins traceback to the late 1800s, when European immigrantsintroduced it in Buenos Aires province, primarily inthe ports of Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca. Thesefisheries peaked in the 1960s but saw limited expansionin the rest of the country. Today, the artisanalfishing landscape has shifted: traditional fishing portshave very small artisanal fleets, while the activity hasexpanded in other regions such as Patagonia. Additionally,new commercial operations using semi-rigidboats and kayaks have gained prominence in BuenosAires. By combining the limited available statisticswith interviews from key informants, we identified60 fishery units along the coast, encompassing 15 distinctmetiers and employing nearly 1,000 vessels andaround 3,000 fishers in extractive activities. Usinga Factor Analysis of Mixed Data on 13 variables —including vessel and gear characteristics, fishingoperation, and catch utilisation—we categorised theseunits into three groups: Strictly Small-Scale Fisheries,Medium Small-Scale Fisheries, and Semi-industrialfisheries. These clusters exhibit varying levelsof informality and management intensity. We compareArgentina’s artisanal marine sector with those ofother developing and developed nations, analysing itsevolution in recent decades and discussing key challengesand priorities for its sustainable management.