En una entrevista con la Voz de Galicia (el mayor periódico de tirada diaria del norte de España), Iván López, presidente de la asociación de armadores de buques de pesca de bacalao y director de Pesquera Ancora, criticó la administración de la Comisaria de Pesca de la Unión Europea, Maria Damanaki.
López señaló que la política de la UE se dirige a la extinción, un obstáculo insalvable para una industria pesquera competitiva que será insostenible en cinco años.
“En este momento, hay numerosos empresarios de varios países pesqueros” comentó. “Probablemente los más importantes y con más peso, incluido España. Existe una enorme preocupación, por no decir disgusto generalizado, por el presente y el futuro de la pesca europea. La señora María Damanaki es un peligro para la UE”.
“Estamos cayendo en la demagogia ecologista”, siguió afirmando López. “Se están escudando cobardemente en dogmas que no están probados científicamente y que incluso a veces van en contra de los propios científicos. El aspecto socioeconómico de la pesca en Europa se ha olvidado, ya no importa a nadie. En este momento, un pescador ya no es importante para la UE. Acaso solo el componente artesanal”.
También pidió el regreso del antiguo Comisario de Pesca Franz Fischler, que ocupó el puesto desde 1995 a 2004, para sustituir a Damanaki.
Highlighting mistakes in Damanaki’s administration, López said: “The commissioner has decided to ignore the industry and her own team. There are great technicians in the EU [Ernesto Penas or Cesar Deben, fisheries directorate] who know everything about European fisheries from the day they first arrived. We do not listen to anyone. We believe that if we go on like this, the crisis of European fisheries will not be sustainable in five years.”
While backing the EU’s lead in combating overfishing and illegal catches, López decried: “The EU is neglecting its duties nor defending the industry because environmentalists have an excellent deal. We feel removed from the negotiations, as if we were not in the industry.”
Discussing Galician versus Norwegian blue whiting stocks, López explained: “Nobody can say that Galicia blue whiting is the same as the north. The EU said it is but no studies prove it. This is not science, it is fraud. Due to exchange quotas between Norway and the EU and the depletion of northern stocks, Oslo has benefited while the EU fleet has been unable to do the same. A Galician looking for blue whiting 80 kilometers from his homeport can’t fish because 4,000 kilometers away the Norwegians have consumed all and they will not pay anything for it. Where is social justice in the EU?”
López’s Pesquera Ancora was sold by its major shareholder, Norway’s Aker Seafoods, to UK Fisheries Ltd. for EUR 18.5 million (USD 25.2 million) in December 2010. López concluded: “The sale will bring benefits for us but we were let down by the Norwegian conglomerate. Paradoxically, we may be the only Spanish company owned by an English firm.”
