The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, during the full Senate session celebrated on Monday.
The Spanish fishing fleet recovered fishing days and thus mitigated the impact of the effort initially proposed by the European Commission for 2024, thanks to selectivity measures undertaken in the Mediterranean.
During the full Senate session celebrated on Monday, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, recalled that the European Commission set a new reduction of fishing days by 9.5% for 2024.
Subsequently, during the negotiations held in the Fisheries Council of Ministers in December 2023, the Spanish Government managed to reduce this percentage by 3.5% as long as the measures of the compensation mechanism to ensure sustainability were applied.
Among these measures are the establishment of a temporary four-week halt to protect the hake population and a permanent ban for the deep-sea fleet between 800 and 1,000 meters to preserve prawn juveniles.
The Spanish fishing fleet was authorized in May to recover 6,116 fishing days, which will benefit 563 vessels. This translated into nearly two more weeks of activity.
According to Planas, this is a "very important step forward" to reconcile the sustainability of fishing and the profitability of the fleet, but it is necessary to continue working.
To mitigate overfishing and conserve species in the Western Mediterranean, the European Commission has been promoting a multi-annual plan for demersal resources since 2019.