Shrimp Season About to Start in Rawson, Chubut, Argentina: 20 Vessels to Take Part in Pre-Season Resource Survey
Ahead of the shrimp season in Rawson, Chubut, Argentina, the fisheries authorities will organize 20 commercial fishing vessels next week to carry out a resource survey; the survey results will determine the official opening date for the species in waters under Chubut Province jurisdiction.
Rawson, Chubut Province, Argentina, is awaiting the start of the new shrimp season. The biological results of the resource survey to be carried out next week will determine the official opening date for shrimp in waters under Chubut Province jurisdiction.
According to the Argentine fishing port weekly Revista Puerto on October 21, 2026, the Chubut Provincial Fisheries Secretariat is expected to issue the corresponding resolution before this Friday, formally setting the implementation dates of the resource survey. The survey will involve the commercial fleet, comprising 20 fishing vessels in total, of which 16 are yellow fleet (flota amarilla) vessels and 4 are artisanal (artesanal) vessels. As is customary, this pre-season survey will be conducted within the restricted fishing effort area (Área de Esfuerzo Pesquero restringido) in the two zones north and south of Rawson.
Unlike previous seasons, collective wage negotiations for fleet crew members have all been concluded, and the crew side also has the will to start the season without interruption, in order to avoid losing weeks of operating time as has happened at certain times in the past, which could not be made up afterwards.
The Food Industry Union (Sindicato de la Alimentación) and the union of chief engineers and sailors had previously issued public warnings regarding a specific dispute between the Argentine Food Industry Union (STIA) and Conarpesa, but in principle this dispute will not become an obstacle to the start of the season, because if strike measures were to proceed, the provincial labor authorities are expected to lift them through the instrument of compulsory conciliation (conciliación obligatoria).
The greatest expectations for the start of the season in Rawson come from the workers themselves, not only crew members and processing plant workers, but also the entire fisheries supply chain—covering unloading, logistics, and various related activities that depend on fishing. Experience has amply demonstrated the scale and impact of the spillover effects of this activity on the local economy.
Since the end of the shrimp season in national jurisdiction waters, thousands of workers have been left with no work to do, and they are eagerly awaiting the start of the provincial shrimp season so that they will have work before the end of the year.