Argentina this month imposed a two-week ban on hake fishing amid evidence that landings of the cod-like fish were on pace to exceed the government-established quota. Antonio Berhongaray, an agriculture official who is president of the inter-agency Federal Fishing Council, took the action April 6 after it was announced that the hake catch as of March 27 had reached 58,000 tons—more than half the entire 110,000-ton quota for 2000. Hoping to stop the industry from exceeding the quota, Berhongaray also set a limit of 35,000 tons on hake landings for the rest of the year. Over-fishing is a perennial problem in Argentina. In 1998, the hake quota was set at 289,000 tons, but the actual catch totaled 485,000... [Log in to read more]