Jan
22
Fishing port. (Photo: La Moncloa – Gobierno de España)
Galician sector’s resounding rejection to EU-Mauritania agreement
EUROPEAN UNION
Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 04:30 (GMT + 9)
The Galician delegation expressed its resounding rejection to the fisheries agreement signed between the European Union (EU) and the Mauritanian government during the debate on the agreement reached this week in the European Parliament (EP).
Galician representatives — three sailors and a CIG union delegate– regretted the absence of the Galician government officials.
According to Xabier Aboi, CIG-Mar spokesman, “Canary Islands had a very broad delegation but we know little about the Xunta [de Galicia]. The future employment of workers of over a hundred and twenty ships is at stake and no one comes to defend us in Europe. “
Meanwhile, a representative of the European Commission (EC) recognized that the agreement “is not perfect” and ruled out a renegotiation of it , as it would mean “starting from scratch”, Diario Atlantico reported.
However, he assured that ways to “improve certain technical conditions” would be sought at another meeting to be held between 19 and 20 February.
“For an agreement to be accepted, it has to be fair for both parties and this protocol is unaffordable because it expels our cephalopod fleet,” complained MEP Ana Miranda.
“It is paid with public funds and it is unacceptable that the sailors do not receive anything,” she added.
MEPs Gabriel Mato, Carmen Fraga, Antolin Sanchez Presedo and Izaskun Bilbao also showed their rejection to the current deal.
Mato presented a paper in which he denounced the limited fishing opportunities for the EU fleet and the incorporation of some “abusive technical conditions”.
Galician delegates attending the meeting added that they neither can nor want to change octopus fishing for other fishing.
“The option to switch fishing grounds is false because there is no alternative fishery ground nor are vessels adapted to fish in other waters,” they continued to explain, newspaper La Voz de Galicia reported.
Moreover, the Managing Director of La Luz Market, Bernardino Santana; the Chairman of the Dockers’ Union, Miguel Rodriguez, and the director of the National Association of Cephalopod Producers (Anacef), José Ramon Fontan, highlighted Mato’s intervention and criticized the arguments of the EC representatives on the bilateral agreement, La Provincia informed.
Related article:
– Galicia defends return of cephalopod vessels to Mauritanian waters
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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