Feb
27
Mussel raft and boat. (Photo: Galician Xunta)
Harvesters hope to get soft loans to face mussel toxin
SPAIN
Thursday, February 27, 2014, 21:50 (GMT + 9)
The Government of Galicia will deliver aid worth EUR 1.5 million to “mitigate the consequences of unemployment” in the mussel harvest during the last months of 2013 in the Galician estuaries, due to the presence of biotoxins.
The announcement by the head of the Ministry of Marine Affairs, Rosa Quintana, was welcomed by the industry, as it will partially alleviate the losses suffered because of this natural phenomenon.
However, the head of the association of Virxe do Rosario de Vilaxoan, Javier Blanco, stressed that they need more liquidity to “cope with these setbacks.”
According to Blanco, it would make sense to have available loans at reasonable interest, which do not require “endorsing amounts of EUR 20,000 with your own house.” “That really is drowning us,” said the officer to Faro de Vigo.
Blanco insists on that “this sector does not intend to live on a subsidized basis,” but all mussel harvesters want to return the money at reasonable interest rates, enabling them to continue in business.
Quintana said the call for aid claim would be officially published “within two months, more or less,” and said that 75 per cent of the funds will be provided by the EU and 25 per cent by the Xunta.
To collect the announced aid, producers must submit documentation showing the damage they suffered.
Potential beneficiaries must prove that the losses suffered last year accounted for “35 per cent of sales from previous years” corresponding to the “average of the past three years.”
They may also have access to aid if they demonstrate “a continued closure of four months” due to the presence of biotoxins.
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