Oct
9
Quota allocation for the Cantabrian fleet
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Magrama Director General of Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Ignacio Escobar. (Photo: Magrama)
Quota allocation for the Cantabrian fleet
SPAIN
Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 02:40 (GMT + 9)
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama) proposed to carry out the distribution of the main quotas of the different fisheries of the Northwestern Cantabrian fishing grounds — mackerel, horse mackerel and hake — per vessel and per port for purse seine, bottom longline, volanta and rasco gillnets.
In addition, the Government also raised the issue of the distribution of fishing opportunities per mode for the small-scale fleet.
This was announced by the Director General of Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources of Magrama, Ignacio Escobar, who chaired the second meeting of the Working Group of the national fishery ground of the Northwestern area and the Cantabrian Sea.
During the meeting, held in Santiago de Compostela on Monday, 8 October, a description of the result of the Report of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on the stocks of this fishery ground, and of the major fisheries was presented.
At the meeting, the submission of a ministerial draft that includes the comprehensive management plan for the different modes of the fishery grounds was announced.
The Government’s priority is “to manage the optimum use of the available resources per fishery,” Magrama reported.
The general secretary of marine affairs of Galicia, Juan Maneiro; and fishing directors general of Asturias, Alberto Vizcaino; of Cantabria, Pilar Pereda; and of the Basque Country, Jokin Diaz also joined the coordination committee.
The Galician Federation of Fishermen’s Associations claimed “the need to repeal the distribution orders” of mackerel, hake and horse mackerel “given the chaos caused by the inshore fleets” from 2010 to 2012.
According to the letter sent to the media, the Federation called for a comprehensive management plan and for the recalculation of the percentages and distribution criteria.
After the meeting, a representative of the Galician fishing sector warned that “this workshop is doomed to failure” while Torcuato Teixeira, a spokesperson for the association of shipowners Pescagalicia of A Coruña, complained that the Basque Country and Cantabria “are consuming all,” because they capture most of the quotas.”
Meanwhile, Benito Gonzalez, president of the Galician Federation, stated “there is discrimination as to small-scale fishing gear, purse seine and bottom longline” and called for “the need to achieve a balance.”
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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