Falklands : FIRS Goes One to One with John Barton
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 04.10.2009 (Article Archived on 18.10.2009)
Stascey Bragger asks the important questions about the state of Falklands' fisheries.
FIRS GOES ONE TO ONE WITH JOHN BARTON
A Report for FIRS by Stacey Bragger (SB) 29.09.09
SB: Welcome to One to One. On today’s programme I will be speaking to the Director of Fisheries, John Barton (JB). I will be talking to him about current fisheries issues and his new role as Director of Natural Resources, which he will be taking up shortly.
To begin with, John Barton gave me an update on the Falklands Fishery.
JB: At the moment there are varieties of Finfish Fisheries going on, which should happen from now probably until the end of the year, although a few folk may start to run out of quota now. The Loligo Fishery, in a normal year, would have continued until the end of September but that closed early on the 11th of September in the end so it was three weeks early as it didn’t look as if stock levels were at the level they should have been. It looked like the conservation target wasn’t going to be met so that fishery did close early. We have got a vessel out there at the moment which has been doing a survey since the Fishery closed early to see if there were any late migrations of Loligo. We will wait and see those results once the scientists onboard get back, although from some of the initial results it doesn’t look as if there’s been a huge influx of Loligo so I think it was correct to close the season early.
SB. Is that worrying though, that you have had to close the season early and that the numbers didn’t really seem to be there?
JB: It’s always a concern, particularly as for a while last year we were looking at whether that season had to close early and in the end it didn’t and in fact, there was quite a strong influx of Loligo towards the end of the season, which showed that the biomass was at a better level than we thought it was earlier on. But if there is an early closure it is a concern. Total catches this year in the Loligo Fishery are just over 30,000 tonnes, which is low but it’s by no means the lowest it has been. I think probably the fleet would like to be catching something in the region of 45,000 tonnes might be a good year so at 30,000 tonnes it certainly is a low year.
SB: is it all doom and gloom for the Falklands’ Fisheries, with the Loligo Fishery closing early and the collapse of the Illex season?
JB: Certainly the Illex season was a real non-event. Again, there have been years in the past where poor performance in both fisheries has coincided in a single year. So, I think this does happen with squid from time to time. We are just collecting up oceanographic data and looking at that now to see if there is anything that shows why it might have happened. But I think we have seen in the past that Squid have gone down and they have bounced back but it is a concern.
The other fisheries have been going along much as normal. Again, in a couple of weeks’ time we should be having another research cruise to look at some of the resources. That will be the first cruise using the CASTELLA.
SB: Yes, it is pleasing that you got the CASTELLA up and running now for the Department?
JB: Yes very much so. With the first trip there will obviously be some things arise when that starts happening but we hope everything will proceed smoothly with that and it will be good to be back out there again and getting some research done.
SB: Just on another fisheries related issue, the Falklands delegation were snubbed at a recent conference in Spain. Was that disappointing for you from a prospective of Argentina not co-operating with us on stock sustainability?
JB: I think it was very disappointing. The conference is very much to do with sustainability of fish resources and certainly there are a number of areas in the South-west Atlantic where that is becoming a major issue. We have always touched on the subject of Illex this year where catches in the Falklands were really very low. But also catches in Argentina were extremely low this year at 60,000 tonnes. That’s the lowest catches there for the last five years. We are beginning to think that there are problems in relation to Southern Blue Whiting, which is another stock shared between Argentina and the Falklands. I think that if there is an event where sustainability of resources can be discussed, it would obviously been good to do that with some of these incidents going on. We have known as well that at international conferences, I am afraid, that does tend to be a bit of a hazard.
SB: Another issue – this week you take up the position of Director of Natural Resources. How does it feel to be taking on this new role?
JB: Yes but that’s a major change and I am sure it’s going to be a major challenge but I am looking forward to that and it should happen on the 1st of October.
SB: And how do you feel about taking on that extra responsibility of Agriculture.
JB: I think it is going to be quite challenging because the Fisheries job is already fairly large so there are a lot more things to do in taking on Agriculture. And, there is a lot for me to learn there as well and get to grips with what is going on in the Agricultural sector. I think in some ways there may not be that much immediate change in that Minerals and Agriculture were operating over what was effectively two sites in town. So, in a sense, that will happen. I will probably be largely based in Fisheries and visit the Agricultural Department as required. In terms of folk coming to see me, it may not be as convenient as the arrangement which Phyl had because she was based in the centre of town.
SB: With this new responsibility are you looking forward to getting a posh new office for you and the Department?
JB: New offices have been that have been around within FIG for some time and in particular I think certainly Fisheries Offices, some bits of that are fairly poor quality and, indeed, some of the Agricultural Offices are a bit limiting as well. But one of the things which has been looked at a bit in the re-structure of Government is whether in terms of what Synergy or resources might be shared between the two departments. Perhaps the laboratory facilities and some other areas are where resources could be shared. And, in doing that, we have looked a bit at whether there is opportunity to co-locate the Fisheries Department at the Agriculture site. But I think that option will have to be evaluated further. Obviously it would come at an expense but there is certainly some pressure in terms of (certainly where the Fisheries Offices are concerned) the fabric and structure of the building is pretty poor in places. And, at some stage some investment in new offices is going to be necessary and with having the Department of Natural Resources there probably would be considerable advantage in having the Departments co-located.
SB: With this new post will you be concentrating on strategic thinking rather than day to day issues?
JB: There will certainly be an element of the new post in providing what will hopefully be effective policy advice. I think in the first few months of the new structure – as I think will be the case in all the new Departments – there will be a review of how things operate – how they work and to look at whether any changes are required. But certainly within that there will be certain responsibilities which have to be delegated and perhaps different procedures and things put in place. That’s really got to be the subject of a review, which will involve consultation with everyone involved.
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