Proposal to replace commercial fishing permits merits Open Parliament: Senator Audelia Villarreal

The reform that would facilitate the replacement of commercial fishing permits merits an Open Parliament in which fishermen and civil organizations participate, says Senator Audelia Villarreal, of the National Action Party (PAN).

The approval of the reform to Article 51 of the General Law on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture would allow the replacement of commercial permits, as well as commercial aquaculture, development and teaching. Mas Villarreal warns that the proposal could lead to the discretion of substitutions, as well as to the hoarding of permits.

“This request (for discussion with fishermen) has to do with a series of factors that may violate the activity as such. If there is a person who has the resources to obtain permits, then, that balance can be broken... and hoarding can be promoted or allowed in some way,” the legislator representing Baja California Sur told Causa Natura.

Although Villarreal was emphatic that it is too early to be certain about the consequences of endorsing the current reform proposal, she maintains that it is time to discuss these scenarios. In 2020, 12,679 commercial fishing permits and concessions were registered in Mexico, according to the Pescando Datos de Causa Natura platform.

Currently, business permits can only be transferred upon the death of the holder, the senator said. On February 9, the Chamber of Deputies took the first step to change this situation by approving an initiative, originally promoted by the deputy of the Social Encounter Party María del Carmen Cabrera, which allows commercial permit holders to request replacement, and then be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).

In the eyes of Villarreal, the problems with this reform, now in the Senate, appear when the proposal is combined with the lack of issuance of a new Regulation of the Fisheries Act, a problem that has been going on for almost 13 years.

Although the current General Law on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture came into force in 2007, the current Regulation is older, it was published in 1999 and amended in 2004.

The provisions in the Regulations on substitutions, in accordance with the previous fishing law, would come back to life with the proposed reform.

In a point of agreement presented in early March, the legislator described the requirements for replacement under the Regulations as “extremely generic.”

“We are working with the Regulations to the previous law. This Regulation, combined with the reform that is being carried out, would allow the transfer of permissions at the discretion of the Secretariat, to which we see a significant risk,” Villarreal said.

In the Regulations, it should be noted that the replacement takes place when you have a current permit and after one year of using it; at the same time, the substitute must fill out a written application, have a certificate of registration and Mexican flag, a program of operation and production, and have the assets to fulfill the purpose of the permit.

Number of replacements

A central part of the reform bill is that it is left to the Regulations to specify the number of times a business permit can be replaced. However, there are no proposals on the table to specify that number.

“It's something that's a little loose, so to speak, because the regulation exists, but it hasn't been updated, even to the previous reform,” Villarreal said.

While the reform opens the door for the replacement of commercial permits, it closes it so that others can be transferred to third parties, the latter include fishing permits for promotion, educational, sports-recreational and fishing work to support concession requests.

“We haven't reached that stage of analysis yet, but you are fully committed to doing it completely with all seriousness,” Villarreal said when asked about the lock on these other non-commercial permissions.

The senator said she did not know if the reform will be approved at this session, since the Committee on Fisheries has not yet met.

“Look, the regular term ends on April 30th. You should know that I protested about 6 weeks ago or so as Senator of the Republic. And to this day (he said March 18) we haven't had a committee meeting. I am a member. I am not part of the committee's Board of Directors, however, we have sent emails to the board of directors to make this happen,” he said.