The Spanish fishing sector, represented by the Spanish Confederation of Fishing (CEPESCA), has received with frustration the decisions made by the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers for the Mediterranean, within the TAC and quotas agreement for 2025.
STAY UP TO DATE OF WHAT WE DO AND RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTERIn addition to the 10% reduction in catches of red shrimp, the Council has decided to reduce fishing days in this sea by 79%, a cut that fishermen will be able to try to mitigate through the adoption of a series of "complex" compensation mechanisms (changes in fishing gear, meshes, temporal and definitive closed seasons, among others).
The sector points out that these mechanisms are an additional sacrifice to those already made in the last five years and will entail additional costs that "will cause some fishermen and ships to be unable to continue with their activity," points out Javier Garat, general secretary of Cepesca. Thus, the sector points out that in the last five years, Mediterranean fishermen have already reduced activity days by 40%, changed the meshes of the nets to be more selective, created temporary and definitive closed seasons to protect the juveniles and breeders of certain species, or introduced the so-called flying doors.
The agreement reached in Brussels contemplates that fishermen can use compensation mechanisms to add fishing days to those already cut. According to the agreement, a total of six measures have been proposed which, according to the sector, are going to require an additional cost that not all fishermen will be able to assume, especially those referring to the type of mesh.
Specifically, Brussels proposes using 45-millimeter square meshes for coastal fishing and 50 for deep-sea fishing. While in the latter case it may be effective for catches of red shrimp in many fishing areas, "in the case of coastal fishing, aimed at demersal fish, there is scientific evidence that a 45-millimeter square mesh, in certain fishing grounds, is going to mean a considerable reduction in catches that could seriously affect the economic performance of the boats and, therefore, the viability of the companies," points out Javier Garat.
According to Garat, "the Mediterranean fishing sector is at its limit after five years of efforts, and all this means a further tightening of the screw. What comes now, Garat points out, is to do the calculations in the ports, in each Autonomous Community, and in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food and see what is possible to comply with to continue the activity. Even so, he adds, it must also be defined what type of aid will be allocated to be able to assume these costs, if they are going to be allowed to come from the European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and, if so, in what percentage, amount, and when." In short, concludes Garat, "we believe that in many cases fishing will not be profitable, and unfortunately, we will see how the decisions made in Brussels sink many fishermen."