Aug
14
Anchovy capture. (Photo: Anfaco-Cecopesca)
Galician fishermen protest in demand of higher anchovy quota
SPAIN
Thursday, August 13, 2015, 23:50 (GMT + 9)
The Xunta de Galicia informed the Galician purse seiner sector that the central government will not extend the anchovy quota in zone IXa, covering from Finisterre to the Gulf of Cadiz.
The announcement was made by Secretary General of Marine Affairs, Juan Carlos Maneiro, to the spokesman for the Association of Purse Seiner Owners of Galicia (ACERGA), Andres Garcia, during a telephone conversation.
This implies that the Spanish Government does not fulfill the promise of the previous Secretary General of Fisheries, Carlos Dominguez, to increase the chances to catch anchovy in the event that the resource appeared on the Galician coast, Garcia explained.
As repudiation of this situation, Garcia announced that ACERGA will participate in a demonstration of the sector on Thursday in the port of Vigo, organized by the Association of Shipowners of the Port of Vigo (ARVI).
“This is the first protest, but we do not say there will be others. The situation can not continue in this way. The fleet is increasingly tighter and more desperate, especially when seeing anchovy at sea without being able to fish it. Impotence governs us”, the Galician leader complained.
Meanwhile, purse seine industry sources from Vigo noted that the protest will be joined by about 25 boats in the area as well as shipowners and sailors from the rest of the community.
Representatives of the seiners’ sector are expected to make noise and accumulate boxes of anchovy in the port during the protest, which will then be given away, said ARVI.
Garcia said the issue is in an attorney’s hands, and they hope that the administrative procedure will be used until they take the case to court.
For its part, the Provincial Association of Purse Seiner Owners of the Province of Pontevedra (CERCO) described the anchovy quota available to the Galician fleet this year as “ridiculous.”
CERCO deputy manager, Hugo Gonzalez, commented “it’s like being hungry and being in front of a bakery: the fish is here. We hope that the administration do something to help the fleet a little, since it needs to fish and there is fish there,” reported the newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
It must be recalled that in late July Portugal ceded to Spain 500 tonnes of anchovy south of Finisterre. Of this quota, Galician boats only have six ships tonnes to capture while the Gulf of Cadiz fleet received 98.86 per cent.
Before this transfer of fishing opportunities, there was a previous increase in the anchovy quota (in early July) of 600 tonnes, which was also assigned almost entirely to the Andalusian fleet.
Related articles:
– Shipowners to report the Govt for not increasing anchovy quota
– New anchovy quota increase after exchange with Portugal
– Spanish fleet to be allowed to catch further 600 tonnes of anchovy
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member ANFACO-CECOPESCA – Asociacion Nacional de Fabricantes de Conservas de Pescados y Mariscos-
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