Spanish Fisheries Minister Luis Planas, at the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries on 9 and 10 December,
Photo: Spanish Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture
The European Union's Ministers of Fisheries have reached unanimous agreement over fishing quotas and days in European waters for 2025, after what the Spanish Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture Luis Planas described as "two intense days of very complex negotiations" which were the "most complex, difficult and intricate” he has undertaken.
Fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea was a particularly contentious topic during the discussions this week, after the European Commission had initially proposed a 79% reduction in fishing days, corresponding to an average of 27 fishing days in the whole year, compared with 130 days in 2024. The proposal was opposed by Spain and Italy at the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meeting.
“We have worked very hard to neutralise a proposal that was unacceptable,” said Planas in a press announcement, saying that the original proposal "would have meant rendering the 570 boats fishing in the Mediterranean practically unviable".
Despite Spain's opposition, the 27-day fishing limit in the Mediterranean has been approved, however the final agreement enables the Mediterranean fleet to increase this to 130 fishing days by applying certain compensatory management measures to ensure sustainability of fish stocks.
These measures include adopting larger fishing net mesh sizes to ensure only larger fish are caught, adjustments to the type of fishing gear utilized, such as installing flying trawl doors, adhering to temporary fishing bans, and bans on fishing within certain depth ranges.
The European Commission is making funds available to finance the measures, the Ministry of Fisheries noted.
However, Spain's National Federation of Fishermen's Guilds has released a statement urgently requesting clarification on the measures, stating that changes to equipment, such as installing different net mesh sizes, will likely not be feasible for some members of the fleet.
According to Spanish fishing federation CEPESCA, the Spanish trawling fleet operating in the Mediterranean is currently made up of 565 vessels that catch species such as hake, monkfish, red mullet, blue whiting, red shrimp, white shrimp and Norway lobster. This fleet generates around 17,000 jobs (3,000 direct on board and 14,000 indirect) .