The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (Maga) granted the commercial fishing license of Atunes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean to the Tuna Sant Yago company, SA, to operate it with the Sant Yago Uno ship.
The Tunids Commercial Fishing license was approved with the AG-168-2025 Ministerial Resolution, for a period of 10 years, for the hauling fee owned by Guatemala, 625 cubic meters.
The 25 clauses of the contract were approved by means of the Ministry of Maga 35-2025, published in the Central America newspaper on Friday, March 28, 2025, the date on which the validity begins and the deadline will be overcome on March 27, 2035, according to data from the institution.
The term may be extended for the same period at the request of the concessionary company and the Ministry will have the power to grant it as long as the company requests it at least two months in advance of the expiration of the contract and is solvent of any of the payments that are obliged to make the Ministry for the concept of access to fishing.
The contract was signed by the Deputy Minister of Rural Economic Development of the Maga, Nick Estrada Orozco and the general manager of the company Guillermo Alfonso Rodríguez Mahuad.
The hauling fees are owned by the State of Guatemala, so the concessionary firm is not constituted as the owner of the quota, it is indicated in the contract released.
The total hauling fee recognized to Guatemala by the Inter -American Tropical Tuna Commission (CIAT) is 9,321 cubic meters. The 625 granted in this license correspond to the cubic meters that Guatemala has free, but currently there are 1,475 cubic meters in legal processes that cannot be used, until these are the end, the ministry added through the Social Communication Office.
Last February, the Minister of Agriculture, Maynor Estrada, explained that the volume to be granted would be around 1,900 cubic meters that included about 1,400 that had an expired license authorized and another 600 that were without use.
The company is capital of Spanish origin, and as explained by Rodríguez Mahuad, the ship is of Guatemalan flag.
Asked the magician about what benefits he has for the country to authorize the fishing license in the Pacific for a Guatemalan flag ship, he presented, through the Social Communication Office that the purpose is to support the national fishing industry to contribute to the generation of employment in the area of the port of San José and surrounding municipalities.
The institution adds that taking into account that ships with national flag have the opportunity to make downloads in the national port, raw material will be produced that allows to support the generation of approximately 600 jobs that the firm currently has, which are especially women in the area. This aspect, he added, helps improve the living conditions of each of the families, as well as the local economy.
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Rodríguez Mahuad, is the Manager of the Packer Industry Central American Atunera, and of the Sant Yago, SA, which refers are associated companies.
He explains that they are Spanish capital but they are registered Guatemalan companies, installed and operating in the country for years.
To now have a fishing license for a Guatemalan flag ship in the Pacific area is beneficial because it will allow tuna to stay in the country, Rodriguez Mahuad said. The company’s plans are tripling the operations of its packer installed in Guatemala, but for this they require 4 thousand cubic meters, and that will also allow them to triple the number of jobs, he added.
He commented that they will begin to carry out the fishing with that license, however, he explained that to operate the Sant Yago Uno ship, they need about 2,000 cubic meters, but only 625 m3 were assigned in this license.
He explained that this is because the company that had assigned the 1,475 m3, filed administrative and then judicial measures, since the period of said license was expired in 2024 and the Maga decided not to renew it.
“The ship requires 2 thousand cubic meters and with this license we only have 25% of our needs. What will have to be done is that the covers are closed that where the fish is deposited and it will only be able to fish in a Cuba, which means that we will be partially doing fishing, but all the fish will come for Guatemala.”
Among the plans is to bring the other ship they have in the Atlantic, also for fishing in the Pacific, so the requirement would be 2 thousand m3 more, it was added.
Licenses in force in 2025
According to a list of the Directorate of Fishing and Aquaculture Regulations, provided by the Maga, this is the licenses for the Pacific:
- Mollitiam Insulae, Sociedad Anónima, Emilio boat, quota of 1,488 m3, license expires in Maro of 2033.
- Pesquera Reina de la Paz, S with three ships: Queen of Peace, 2,100 m3, expires in March 2027; as well as the Diva María ships with 1,633 m3, and Ljubica, with 2,000 m3, which expire in May 2027.
- Atunera Sant Yago, SA: Sant Yago Uno ship, 625 m3, expires in March 2035.
- In addition to the 1,475 m3 subject to the results of the process of the judicial process of administrative contentious, whose license was assigned to the La Peña ship of the Mayapesca company, SA, which won in September 2024, according to the magician information.
The Ministry adds that the processes of collection of sanctions are continued due to breach of the four annual landings that ships must do in the country even if they are of foreign flag, they had already breached that obligation. The sanctions vary and range from Q233 thousand to 854 thousand per ship per year.
Controversial
Amid the processes for licenses between October 2024 and February 2025, public complaints of accusations, favoritism or hindering for permits approval emerged.
In October 2024, it was reported in a citation of the VOS bench in Congress, which of the quota corresponding to Guatemala according to CIAT years ago the licenses had been granted to seven companies but that no boat had a Guatemalan flag, so the species that is captured in the economic zone was destined for Panama and Ecuador.
As indicated in that citation, that the Maga through the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture Regulations (Dipsca), had seven dealers for capture in the Pacific and two for the Atlantic, with its proper boats, and that they have the obligation to make four product deliveries in Guatemala, but that some did not comply. On that occasion, the then Vice Minister of Agricultural Health and Regulations of the Maga, Marissa Montepeque, confirmed that these vessels had not delivered the product in Guatemala, so they have been sanctioned with fines, whose procedures date from between 2021 and 2023, but that have been exonerated when requesting withdrawal.
Meanwhile, at the end of February 2025, the Maga reported in a newsletter that the Vice Minister resigned from personal reasons, whose resignation became effective on the 24th of that month.
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Days later, on February 27, a document supposedly issued by Montepeque circulated, where it is noted that this resignation was not voluntary, but that Minister Estrada, forced her to present her because she did not access her request, since together with other officials they wanted to take the license from a company to grant it to another. Asked about the reasons for the resignation of the exviceminist, he said that they are very personal issues and particular situations close to their family environment.
Montepeque did not respond on that occasion to the calls, messages and request for information to confirm whether the document issued with the alleged accusations. However, Estrada declared that day that he would not issue an opinion about the content because it is an anonymous document, which has no signature. He added that the exviceminist spoke to him that day and assured him that he had not participated in the elaboration of that document and is not related to it.