Fishermen in the Balearic Islands join strike against fishing limitations in the Mediterranean

The Federation of Balearic Fishermen's Guilds (Federación Baleares de Cofradías de Pescadores, FBCP) has announced that it will join the strike on December 9 and 10 against the European Commission's (EC) proposal to reduce fishing days for the Mediterranean trawling fleet.

This Tuesday, December 3, the actions to be carried out in the Mediterranean sector were agreed upon. According to the managing director of the FBCP, Carlos Ros, on December 9 and 10, the fishermen of the Balearic Islands will close their boats and not go out to work. They will also hold rallies in Palma.

The Balearic fishing sector has described the proposal made by the team of Virginijus Sinkevicius as "immoral and indecent" and as a "poisoned legacy" for the new Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis. "The fishing we know in our ports would disappear," Ros lamented, adding that "this is not about whether there will be seafood at Christmas or not," but, he warned, if the proposal goes ahead "there will no longer be fishing in the Spanish Mediterranean." Furthermore, Spanish, Italian, and French fishermen in the Mediterranean have described the European Commission's proposal to cut fishing days in this sea as a "real declaration of war."

The EC's proposal, which will be discussed from December 9 to 10 in Brussels, involves reducing the fishing days of the Mediterranean trawling fleet by 79% from the current average of 130 days a year. Therefore, fishermen would be able to work between 20 and 28 days a year.

They have also expressed hope that the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers will take into account the joint request made on November 18 by the fisheries ministers of these three countries' governments to obtain a moratorium on management measures for 2025, freeze the current fishing effort for 2025, and start negotiations to adapt the Multiannual Plan for fishing in the Western Mediterranean.

It was also pointed out that the disappearance of the 'bous' would drag down the 'llaüts' and the small purse seine fleet of the Islands. The Balearic trawling fishing fleet currently consists of 32 'barques de bou' that catch species such as hake, octopus, monkfish, forkbeard, red mullet, red shrimp, white shrimp, and Norway lobster.