Spain calls in Brussels for a 20% cap on the reduction of fishing days in the Mediterranean

Brussels – Spain, France, and Italy will request in Brussels this Monday to cap at 20% the reduction of fishing days in the Mediterranean to avoid new cuts to the activity like the one from last December, which resulted in a 79% decrease in workdays to an average of 27 per year, although measures were eventually included to cushion its impact and maintain the activity of the trawling sector.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Spain, Luis Planas, will defend this request, alongside his French and Italian counterparts, during the meeting of European ministers in the field that takes place this Monday in the Belgian capital.

The three delegations will present a proposal to reform the Multiannual Plan management regulation for the Western Mediterranean, aiming to ensure greater economic predictability for the sector and guarantee its protection and viability.

Now that five years have passed since the implementation of the management plan, diplomatic sources assure that the sector has made a “tremendous effort” to adapt and that there are elements that need “urgent correction.”

With this goal, the proposal includes specific measures such as capping the reductions and increases in fishing days so they do not exceed the 20% threshold and do not have such a pronounced impact on the trawling fleet operating in the Western Mediterranean.

Spain also wants the measures on Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas to change from being annual to multi-annual and to allow a 10% transfer of fishing possibilities between two consecutive years to facilitate activity planning.

Additionally, they aim to unlink the quotas set for all species from the situation of the most vulnerable population and to take into account the mixed nature of the Mediterranean fishery.

With this request, Spain seeks to prevent the most vulnerable species from conditioning the fishing of the total populations inhabiting a specific area, as occurred in the December fisheries agreement, when demersal species, whose recovery concerned the European Commission — the juveniles of hake and red shrimp — forced the limitation of the entire fleet’s activity.

Although the proposal will not yet be put to a vote, Spain, France, and Italy invite the remaining member states to join this request to the Commission to present “as soon as possible” a proposal to modify the Western Mediterranean multiannual plan to preserve fishing activity while guaranteeing the protection of species.

EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries will also discuss for the first time this Monday the Commission’s agricultural proposals on a regulation concerning cross-border enforcement against unfair trading practices and the specific modifications of the current legal framework creating the common organization of markets in agricultural products (OCM).

These two proposals aim to strengthen the position of farmers in the agri-food supply chain and reflect some of the recommendations derived from the strategic dialogue on the future of EU agriculture.

Specifically, the proposal on the cross-border application of regulations against unfair trading practices seeks to strengthen relationships between businesses in the agricultural and food supply chain and includes new measures to improve cooperation between member states.

For its part, the OCM regulation strengthens the role of producer organizations, establishes rules on intervention and market aid regimes, and new marketing rules and contractual relationships between farmers and buyers. (January 27)