Oct
19
Complaint held by purse seine fishermen associated to Acerga. (Photo: Acerga)
Galician seine sector gives away last horse mackerel tonnes to complain about fishery closure
SPAIN
Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 00:20 (GMT + 9)
Most of the Galician purse seine fleet this weekend decided to perform indefinite mooring to denounce the critical situation they are experiencing, caused by the scarcity of quotas.
The proposal was approved during a meeting of the Purse Seine Shipowners’ Association of Galicia (ACERGA), held in Portosin, which was attended by more than 90 per cent of the members. Of these, 82 per cent voted in favour, according to sources from the association itself quoted by the newspaper La Opinion.
Last Friday, the fleet ran out its horse mackerel quota for this year, plus 10 per cent of next year, and to complain about the closure of the fishery decreed by the Government, that day delivered 4,000 kilos of horse mackerel in the Alameda of Santiago de Compostela, among the neediest people and neighbours in general.
Speaking to the press, ACERGA president José Blanco denounced the difficult situation being experienced until the end of the year. He stated that with the closed horse mackerel fishery, virtually without mackerel quota and only with sardines, “it is difficult to survive”.
ACERGA’s associated fishermen, which represents the majority of vessels in this segment in Galicia (120 of 146), complain that the relevant authorities do not offer possibilities to continue fishing and demand a fair distribution of quotas.
The closure of the horse mackerel fishery at the south of Finisterre (IXa zone, from Finisterre to the Gulf of Cadiz) decreed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment from last Friday affects the purse seiners of ACERGA association, who chose a joint management of its individual quota to extend the fishing season this year as much as possible, Europa Press reported.
Members of the organization were also upset by the findings of the Ministry about the “favourable economic results” achieved by the Galician purse seine fleet that is grouped in ACERGA, since “the value of landings until August 2015, exceeds the value of those performed in the different fisheries throughout the year 2014”.
With the closed horse mackerel and anchovy fisheries and a small quota of other resources that can still be captured (mackerel and sardines), the fleet is still facing lower quotas next year. Shipowners will begin in 2016 with discounts in horse mackerel quotas of the two fishing grounds because the central government this year provided 10 per cent of the fishing opportunities of the pelagic species for next year ahead of time.
The association hopes to have the support of the rest of purse seine vessels from Galicia and other fleet segments that are also experiencing shortages and the “bad deal” of quotas, as is the case of the netters.
ACERGA managers requested a meeting with the Secretary General of Fisheries, Andres Hermida, and will ask for another one with the Secretariat of Marine Affairs of Galicia.
editorial@fis.com
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