SPAIN
Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 01:40 (GMT + 9)
For months the members of the surface longline fishing industry of Spain have warned about a significant drop in the swordfish price, which could seriously jeopardize the viability of many companies.
The shipowners complain that for a long time large amounts of swordfish have entered EU ports, which caused the collapse of his quote.
This fish comes mainly from Indonesia and in accordance with the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), it has already been found that in only four years the country has changed from exporting 248 tonnes to 4,908 tonnes of swordfish to the European market in 2013, that is to say, a surprising increase of 1,879 per cent.
Therefore, the longline fleet sent the Government the collected data and expressed its concern about the dramatic increase in imports recorded between 2009 and 2013.
It also informed the General Secretariat of Fisheries about its doubts as to the origin of such catches, Faro de Vigo reported.
Last April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) decided to systematize the rules governing surface fishing longline gear to catch highly migratory species because it was disseminated in various provisions of different normative status.
The unification of regulation provided by a ministerial order published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), is addressed to the Spanish fleet of 239 surface longline vessels operating in all the oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea.