Despite the fears of the Spanish fishing fleet, the European Ministers of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs have granted Spain’s nets more than 10,000 metric tons in additional fishing quotas in 2015.
The ministers met on 15 and 16 December in Brussels to decide the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for the European fleet. Among the main positive news for the Spanish fleet, an increase by 11 percent of the North hake and unchanging quotas for anglerfish and megrim. In the Bay of Cadiz the anchovy quota went up by 10 percent, the Norway lobster quota by 15 percent and the horse mackerel quota by 70 percent. The anglerfish also had quota gains of 15 percent in the national fishing ground. Spanish fisheries Minister Isabel García Tejerina said that these increases will suppose EUR 21 million (USD 25.6 million) more in the fleets of “Gran Sol,” Bay of Biscay and Bay of Cadiz.
On the other hand, among the reductions, quotas for Norway lobster from the Northwest Cantabrian Sea are down 10 percent, and the hake of the national fishing ground quota decreased by 15 percent.
The Cooperative of the Fisheries ship owners of the Port of Vigo valued the quota gains achieved, and they pointed out they were avoiding a loss for Gran Sol fleet that they had forecasted at around EUR 11 million (USD 13.4 million). Regarding Galician purse seine fleets, they received a rise of the horse mackerel and anchovy quotas by 46 percent, and reduction of the quota for the mackerel by 15 percent.
Cepesca welcomed the increases in a statement but they have also complained about the reductions of hake, megrim, Cantabric horse mackerel and mackerel.
They have also showed their relief for the maintenance of the Gran Sol megrim and anglerfish quotas, an improvement on the proposal made by the European Commission of reducing quotas by 20 and 12 percent, respectively.
Tejerina said that Spain had achieved their aims of negotiating objectives of the Total Allowable Catches (TAQs) and fishery quotas for 2015.
She said that these good results are as a consequence of a “solid negotiation, supported in a government fishery policy, based on the improvement of the quantity and quality of the available data in a scientific manner, the application of a proper management and a rigorous control of the fishery activity by the Spanish administration, and of course a responsibility of the national fishery sector.”
Both Cepesca and the Cooperative of the Fisheries ship owners of the Port of Vigo have appreciated the work done by the Spanish Ministry in the negotiations.
