“Improving Information on Studies of Chilean Management Areas.”
June 9th, 2025The Symposium “Improving Information on Studies of Chilean Management Areas” will be presented within the framework of the 2025 Congress of Marine Sciences. Benthic Resource Management and Exploitation Areas (AMERBs) have represented a significant change in fisheries management, promoting greater responsibility among fishing organizations regarding resource sustainability. The AMERB regime grants exclusive use or exploitation rights to benthic resources—invertebrates and algae—present in previously delimited geographic areas, which are assigned exclusively to legally constituted artisanal fishing organizations. The assigned spaces are managed under an area management and exploitation plan (AMEP) submitted by the organizations, with technical advice from an institution linked to marine sciences (university, institute, or consulting firm). The plan is periodically evaluated by the Undersecretariat of Fisheries through the review of monitoring studies on the main resources of the AMERB.
The objective of the symposium is to present the main advances and challenges for improving the monitoring and control of AMERB information. The progress and challenges in conducting monitoring studies will be reviewed, from the perspective of planning, analysis, control, and oversight of data collection. The symposium will conclude with a discussion reflecting on the challenges for improving the monitoring and control of AMERB information, leading to the evaluation of the exploitation status of benthic resources and their ecosystems, based on the information collected in AMERB monitoring studies.