Almeria fishermen protest against EU capping plans

Early in the morning of Tuesday 7 December, there was already a group of Almeria fishermen making their feelings known over EU plans for next year’s haul. The Almería Fishing Entrepreneurs Association (Asopesca) has staged a rally called at 6:30 am and explained in a statement how the plans previously drawn up will cut their fishing days drastically.

As detailed by Asopesca, in the application of EU Regulation 2019/2022, which applies a multi-year plan for trawling in the western Mediterranean, the Council of Ministers of the EU in December will establish the maximum number of days of fishing that the trawl fleet will be able to fish in 2022, in addition to a possible catch cap for red prawn.

The 2020 cut meant a 10% reduction in fishing days for the trawlers, in addition to the days missed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The European Commission proposal for 2022 establishes a reduction of 7.5%, which translates as “a loss for the Andalusian fleet of 1,500 fishing days for next year” as well as a maximum amount of 800 tons catch for red prawns.

The Andalusian Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds and the Andalusian Federation of Fishing Associations is in total rejection of this new reduction proposed for 2022, as far too many fishing days have been lost already over the previous two years.

From the association, the Almeria fishermen urge the Government of Spain to defend and demand, before the Council of Ministers of the EU on December 12 and 13, those unused fishing days both in 2020 and in 2021 be considered as a voluntary reduction of effort already made, rejecting any other reduction of effort that is proposed until the year 2025 since otherwise the disappearance of 50% of the Andalusian fleet and the direct employment of nearly 2,000 workers would be put at risk.

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