Portugal quota exchange allows Spain to reopen mackerel fishery
October 10, 2013, 11:51 am
An agreement with Portugal over fishing quotas has relieved mainly Galicia-based fleets from a 50% mackerel catch reduction imposed by the European Commission.
The Spanish ministry for Agriculture and Fishing affairs has now reopened the mackerel fishery in north-west Bay of Biscay with a new share of 600 metric tones.
The area CIEM IXa, from Finisterre to the mouth of the Mino river, had remained closed since the limit of 12,400t had been reached. The allotment represented half of 2012′s, following Brussels’ orders to compensate for abuses registered in 2009 and 2011.
“This quota exchange comes after the habitual negotiations that our countries regularly maintain during the year on economic matters”, the Spanish government explained. It did not gave details of the counter-offer to Portugal.
Spain’s central government had been under pressure from the regional executive in Galicia, where the federation of fishing guilds had warned about the harsh consequences of the European penalty for their businesses’ future.
A trader at Galicia’s Ribeira fish auction market said to Undercurrent News that some fishing vessels were about to stop working, and retail clients doubted they could find alternative supply soon enough not to discontinue their activity.
In this new season, nevertheless, there still are conditions: catch per vessel cannot exceed 3t a week.
The Spanish ministry also pointed out that the quota extension will benefit small-scale fishing companies and trawlers from Galicia operating in the Gulf of Cadiz
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