What happens to small scale fisheries when new resources appeared: one case of north Patagonia Argentina

Zaidman P.C., Saldaño M. A., Barrera Fuenzalida E.A.

pzaidman@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar

Small-scale fisheries of the San Matías Gulf, North Patagonia Argentina, based on invertebrates share similar characteristics with other small-scale fisheries such as multi-gear and multispecies. Usually, fishers shift from one and another resource for several reasons, such as profit-earning capacity, depletion, or rise of new resources. In the last decades, purple clam (Amiantis purpurata) and southern geoduck (Panopea abbreviata) became the main resources for the invertebrates artisanal fishery in the area. But in recent years the emergence of a new resource, shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri), in 2012, and the resurgence of a valuable resource, Tehuelche scallop (Aequipecten tehuelchus) in 2019, have changed the landscape of fisheries. The objective of the present study was to analyze the effect of new resources in the purple clam and southern geoduck fisheries.

We analyze landings and the number of fishing trips of purple clam and southern geoduck fisheries in the last decade. Also, we analyze if a fisher switched between purple clam, southern geoduck, Tehuelche scallop, and shrimp.

We found that landings and the number of fishing trips did not change significantly with the appearance of shrimp or Tehuelche scallop. Even though two indicators show a marked decrease in 2020 of the two indicators, this was not associated with growth in either the Tehuelche scallop or shrimp fishery. This decrease could be attributed to the pandemic of Covid-19. Although fishers switched between resources, mainly they incorporated the new resources but did not leave those who fished.