Spanish longliner. (Photo: Stock File)
The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) requested the General Secretariat of Fisheries a prompt release of a ministerial order regulating aid for the temporary cessation of the fleet affected by Mauritania's decision to expel most of the Spanish vessels from its fishing ground.
As a result, many ships were forced to dock at ports of Galicia and the Basque Country due to their lack of alternative fishing grounds.
As these vessels and their crews do not receive any income, CEPESCA decided to make the request of aid to Andres Hermida, head of the Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA).
For its part, the Secretariat has already reported that the aid planned in the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) will be granted, which initiated processing.
The Confederation also asked Hermida to give the highest priority to the negotiations with Mauritania, since the next round will be held in Brussels on 9 and 10 October.
Furthermore, CEPESCA asked the Spanish Government to grant new aid for the surface longline vessels operating in the Mediterranean Sea, which had to undergo a compulsory stoppage.
"These grants would affect about 70 surface longliners currently fishing in the Mediterranean, employing 560 crew members that stop their activity four months a year and face an untenable situation due to the reduction of their income in more than 50 per cent, CEPESCA said in a statement.
It is a fleet "that stops four months a year, October November and March due to regulations of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas(ICCAT), and in December because of the lack of business activity, which has been without any help for three years so it is facing an unsustainable situation," it added.
Besides, the statement stressed that there is a shortage of bluefin tuna quotas and the unlikelihood of having access to aid for scrapping.
At present, there is no current management plan for the Mediterranean surface longlining that can be applicable to these vessels during the months they must stop their fishing activities.