Chile’s Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) values ??the creation of a marine park in Cabo de Hornos, a new area in Magallanes that seeks to protect marine biodiversity by minimizing the effects on economic activity. This is the result of seven months of intense work, and reflects an ecosystemic look in conjunction with management committees and stakeholders in the sector.
SUBPESCA highlights that it was seven months of analysis and of combining views in order to preserve the marine ecosystems of the Canales and Fiordos ecoregion associated with the Diego Ramírez Archipelago and the seamounts of the Drake Passage, and the components of the existing aquatic biota in the area under protection. The initiative materialized after the Council of Ministers for Sustainability approved two new marine parks for Chile.
It is worth mentioning that last July, the Undersecretariat signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Magallanes for the Cabo de Hornos Biosphere Reserve, a stage of scientific collaboration that also integrated the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity of the University of Chile and the Omora Foundation, with whom they worked on the definition of the conservation objects that helped in the definition of the new marine park.
Gustavo San Martín, in charge of Marine Protected Areas of SUBPESCA, highlighted that this organization held meetings with the different management committees of the fisheries of the sector, deep-sea cod, Southern blue whiting, tail hake, southern hake and golden kingclip, in order to share the proposals and create meeting points with each one of them. This work included the analysis of the main uses of the area and fishing uses of the territory, considering also the type and number of vessels, the average landings in the area and the workers associated with the economic activity.
The mentioned fisheries are regulated by annual global quotas, with closed access to the activity. For southern hake and hoki, in particular, SUBPESCA has established a reproductive ban, with the purpose of protecting the species life cycle. In the case of the golden kingclip and southern hake, both resources have current management plans, while the rest of the fisheries are in the process of document construction.
At the level of marine biodiversity, this new area of ??140,200.39 km2 will protect the forests of brown algae and coastal ecosystems, as well as the feeding and reproduction areas of black-browed albatrosses and gray-headed albatrosses, of yellow-crowned penguins and macaroni, as well as the feeding and migration of marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins and sea lions.
Likewise, it will contribute to the preservation of the continental slope area, considered a vulnerable ecosystem. “The area, to the south of the continental shelf, is associated with nutrient-rich upwellings that are fundamental for marine biodiversity, including the populations of species of commercial interest; their protection is an opportunity to expand the scarce scientific knowledge we have of this type of ecosystems, “said San Martín.
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