Aug
25
Anchovy fishery reopened in Bay of Biscay
Filed Under EN
A purse seiner of the fleet engaged in anchovy capture. (Photo: CIG)
Anchovy fishery reopened in Bay of Biscay
SPAIN
Tuesday, August 25, 2015, 23:20 (GMT + 9)
After a closure that lasted only one day, the Spanish government decided to reopen the anchovy fishery in the Bay of Biscay to enable the capture of about 2,000 tonnes more.
The measure, set by the Directorate General of Fisheries, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) allows seiners to once more start performing fishing activities as usual in the area between Finisterre and Bidasoa.
According to the representative of the Association of Seiner Owners of Galicia (ACERGA), Andres Garcia, the return to the activity is a relief for the fleet, which had been affected by the scarcity of quotas and resources such as sardines.
Until Wednesday last week 95.8 per cent of the authorized anchovy quota for 2015 had been caught, La Voz de Galicia reported.
This percentage did not include the additional 10 per cent authorized by MAGRAMA in early August, after receiving the request expressed by ACERGA and the Association of Manufacturers of Canned Fish from Cantabria (CONSESA).
The brief closure of the fishery took place when there were 2,000 tonnes of the pelagic resource left to be captured.
Garcia stressed that the reopening resolution does not specify the anchovy quota left to be captured. Anyway, it indicated that some tonnes remained for this year and 10 per cent for 2016.
The leader considered it striking that the order of closure of the fishery appeared during the conflict experienced in the seiner sector in Galicia. He recalled that since the beginnings of this month the fishermen have been demanding a quota for the fishing grounds in the south of Galicia, between Finisterre and the Gulf of Cadiz.
That area has been closed since last February, when the catch limit granted to the Galician fleet for 2015 was extinguished, amounting to 1.14 per cent of the total (the rest was assigned to Andalusia).
For his part, ACERGA President, José Blanco, welcomed the reopening of the fishery in the Bay of Biscay, but regretted the fact that many vessels are unable to move to that fishery, reported Faro de Vigo.
“We will not stop until that increase is achieved. We will hold all the necessary demonstrations and resort to the courts if necessary. On Friday we will repeat the protests in the port of A Coruña,” concluded Blanco.
Meanwhile, the deputy Daniel Rhodes on Monday reported a non law proposal in the Galician Parliament, demanding the right of the Galician fleet to catch anchovy.
Related article:
– Seiner owners complain about anchovy ‘unfair distribution’
By Analia Murias
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.