Tuna catch at a trap. (Photo: faocopemed.org)
PORTUGAL
Wednesday, September 03, 2014, 03:30 (GMT + 9)
The Socialist Party (SP) proposed Portugal should be definitively granted the rights to exploit two tuna traps installed in Portuguese waters, which at present are managed by Spain and Italy.
The coordinator of the Socialist parliamentary group of the Committee on Agriculture and Marine Affairs, told the agency Lusa that the SP will present a draft resolution "for the government to assert the negotiation process" with the European Commission in late 2014, and the two corresponding licenses are obtained.
The Portuguese fishermen exploit three structures to capture bluefin tuna along the coast of the Algarve, but it only has rights to one of them. The other two are operated through the "non-use" by Italy and Spain. Both countries have licensing rights "under the so-called historical regime," Freitas explained.
According to the legislator, there is a business prerogative that "temporarily allows" Portugal to use more than two traps because these nations do not exploit all of them directly.
"Neither Italy nor Spain have used these licenses for five years. They have allocation but they do not used it," he stressed.
The deputy also requires the "extinction of the historical regime."
The MP clarified that the two traps "are just for catching and not for fattening," and that it is essential for Portugal to be able to perform the fattening process, allowing them to also "be for aquaculture".
"As the bluefin tuna is one of the most regulated, supervised and controlled species in the world, we want to consolidate these licenses, maintaining the same quota of 235 tonnes that have been allocated to Portugal,” he added.
Freitas argues that the final allocation of the three traps must be "a priority of the Portuguese government" when the European Union’s fishing quotas are negotiated in Brussels.