Aug
13
Galician government trusts octopus recovery
Filed Under EN
Octopus cacth landings. (Photo: Xunta)
Galician government trusts octopus recovery
SPAIN
Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 01:10 (GMT + 9)
The head of the Ministry of Marine Affairs of Galicia, Rosa Quintana, trusts that the octopus stock in the waters of the autonomous community “will recover.”
In addition, she said she was “convinced” that “if everyone respects the rules,” the market price will increase, the agency Europa Press reported.
“The octopus from abroad has always entered Galicia, since all the European Union (EU) is a major consumer of seafood and what is produced in Galicia is not enough to meet consuming demands only in Galicia,” pointed out the minister of the Xunta.
When being asked about the possible impact of the existing problems among creel fishermen of the Arousa estuary, Quintana recalled that “the conflict lasted a week” and expressed her hope that “things will recover quickly.”
According to the official, the Ministry of Marine Affairs knew that the resource was “scarce” when the document that regulates the capture conditions of the fleet in the different areas was issued. “That’s why we have taken all these measures,” she said.
“We also said that it was a plan that went far beyond the actual resource management. We also drafted a plan that would make it possible to improve marketing channels and it would also enable the sector to value its product and to know the value of differentiating our octopus,” she added.
Quintana says some time is needed and that the octopus, and its value, will recover if all comply with the rules.
On the other hand, the Fisheries Technology Platform (Pescadegalicia) reported that last June octopus auctions decreased 43 per cent over the same period of 2012.
The community markets traded 203 tonnes compared to 355 tonnes in 2012, the newspaper La Opinion reported.
The confrontation between the creel fishermen and the Ministry of Marine early last month made the octopus survey get delayed for a large part of the vessels participating in it.
The Galician docks that traded most octopus last July were that in Ribeira (40 tonnes), Vigo (34 tonnes) and Bueu (21 tonnes).
And in the case of the auction in A Coruña, the sales fell nearly 77 per cent, reaching 7.5 tonnes.
The president of the Association of Small Scale Shipowners of Galicia (Asoar-Armega), Jose Luis Rodriguez, complained because of the lack of controls performed by the Administration.
“If the Xunta differentiated the octopus that comes from Galicia from the rest, it would sell a lot more and the local product would be revalued,” he stressed.
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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