The fishing sector and the Government of the Generalitat have today demanded that Europe back down from its intention to restrict trawling. They consider that the plan approved by the European Commission, which plans to eliminate this type of fishing in protected areas by 2030, "puts the survival at risk" of a fleet in Catalonia is already in clear regression.
The general director of Maritime Policy and Sustainable Fishing, Sergi Todela, regrets that the European Union has not valued the effort being made by the Catalan fishing sector in favor of sustainability.
He gives as an example the biological closures of more than two months, the reduction of fishing hours and days by more than 40% or the closure of 20 fishing zones with a total area of 500 square kilometers or technical improvements to reduce the impact on the fund and diesel consumption.
The Government points out that both they and the fishermen "share the community objective of growing and stabilizing the fish population", but they consider that the European plan is not the solution. They ask Europe to bet on the sector by setting, for example, measures that guarantee the recovery of the fish population instead of eliminating their catches.
In the last two decades, the trawling fleet, the technique used to capture species such as shrimp, Norway lobster, galley or hake, has been reduced by 40%. In those two decades, in addition, the days of fishing have been reduced by 42%, the income of shipowners and sailors by 20% and the tons landed by 40%.
In 2022 there were a total of 7,000 tons of fish, which accounted for 34% of the total and an amount of first sale at the auction of 55 million euros, a figure that represents 58% of the total turnover of the auctions. According to the Generalitat, these data place trawling as "the motor of fishing activity".
According to the Generalitat, the Catalan trawling fleet has remained within the dimensions that a local and coastal fishing activity recommends. "However, at this time the balance between fishing activity, the employment and hiring of young fishermen, the operation of ports and the organizational and commercial structures of the sector is extremely precarious," they warn.
"For every fisherman we lose, it will be difficult for them to return, which puts the continuity of the system at risk," says Tudela.
