Feb
25
Mackerel fishing season divides Galician trawlers
Filed Under EN
Boats moored in the port of Ribeira, Galicia. (Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sanchez – CC BY-SA 3.0
Mackerel fishing season divides Galician trawlers
SPAIN
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 02:20 (GMT + 9)
The trawl fleet of the Galician coast is divided: some fishermen want to remain on strike, while others intend to start fishing for mackerel, as agreed by representatives of the brotherhoods with the Ministry of Fisheries at the end of last week.
Specifically, most Galician trawl, longline and gillnet fishermen keep their ships moored to express their dissatisfaction with the low quotas and legal restrictions, which they consider “barriers to fish and develop their business as usual”, EFE agency reported.
The protest began in Lugo coast four days ago, when fishermen expressed their complaints about the lack of quota, the complications that were generated using the Onboard Electronic Logbook, and the introduction of weighing regulations, which force them to weight their catches in the port of discharge through authorized systems that “are causing serious commercial and economic damages.”
They are concerned about the enforcement of the penalty point system because they believe “it can jeopardize the professional qualifications of the masters or, in the case of shipowners, ship licenses if violations occur.”
With the onset of the mackerel season scheduled for Monday 25 February, shipowners are divided. On Sunday the 24th, at a meeting held in Burela, they had decided to go out fishing that night. However, the head of the Fishermen’s Association of Burela, Basilio Otero, later confirmed “that six of the eight trawler owners decided not to leave port”, La Voz de Galicia informed.
Something similar happened in Celeiro port, where the brotherhood leader, Domingo Rey, said his ships would sail out to fish, but after knowing the situation in Burela, they remained moored.
After a meeting between the shipowners and Autonomous Region Deputy for Partido Popular, Jose Manuel Balseiro, Otero expressed his concern because the mackerel fishing had been already open, and when they decide to go fishing “there will be nothing left.”
Related articles:
– Government and trawlers agree quotas in the Cantabrian
– Galician coast fleet strike complicates fish supply
By Silvina Corniola
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 4]
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.