Brussels decided to ban Spanish fishermen “search” and capture anchovies on the coasts of Antarctic by the rest of 2024, as announced by the company itself European Commission by a resolution. The community authorities consider that Spain has already exceeded the quota for this type of fish this year, which is why they will not allow it to continue fishing in these waters until the beginning of 2025.
“Ships flying the flag of Spain or registered in this country have quota exhausted allocated for 2024 corresponding to the catches of the anchovy population in zone 8″, specifies the European Commission.
According to his own explanation CommissionFishing zone number 8 refers to the continental waters surrounding the Antarctic continent, that is to say very far from the territory of Antarctica. European Union.
“We must ban certain fishing activities,” specifies Brussels. In addition, the document bans Spanish fishermen with retroactive effect. “Fishing of the population mentioned in Article 1 is prohibited to vessels flying Flag of Spain or who are registered in that Member State on or after August 6, 2024.
“It will always be permitted to transship, keep on board, process on board, transfer, cage, fatten and land fish and fishery products from the said population resulting from catches made by these vessels before this date”, explain the community authorities.
“Involuntary catches of this population made by these vessels must be stored and kept on board, as well as recorded, landed and charged to the quotas” imposed on Spain. Thus, Brussels “in particular prohibits look for fish and launch, set or pull fishing gear in order to fish for the population in question.
Brussels and Spanish fishermen
This comes days after Brussels vetoed Spanish albacore fishermen from the Mediterranean Sea. On this occasion, the European Commission banned “stay on board, movetransshipment or land catches of this population.
A few days earlier, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) annulled the agreement fishing with Morocco. Even if the farmers have positioned themselves in favor of this measure – like the Union of Trade Unions – and demand that it be applied urgently, many fishermen have been left behind.
“I cannot believe that the Commission does not have the lines of work for a plan B in this regard,” lamented the chairman of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, popular Carmen Crespowho believes that a proposal should already be on the table.
His party colleague, the MEP from Pontevedra Francisco Millán Mondenounced the loss of a “potential fishing zone”, particularly for the fleet of Gulf of Cádizon which the “sword of Damocles” of reducing anchovy catches already falls, and “now its potential production disappears”.
“I think this decision will not facilitate future agreements and I cannot be optimistic, but I would like the Commission to complete its analysis as soon as possible and tell us what solutions there could be,” he said. declared.
For his part, the social democrat Nicolas González Casaresencouraged the Commission to attempt to sign a new agreement, respecting the conditions imposed by the judgment to “ensure that its benefits reach all those concerned”. “This is what the Commission should be focusing on: finding solutions because the fleet cannot allow this situation to continue. sine die“, he stressed.
Also the PNV MEP Ohiane Agirregoïtia He asked the Commission to “accelerate” to clarify “what steps will be taken to comply with a judgment recognizing the Polisario Front as a valid interlocutor”, for which he demanded a “clear roadmap with deadlines and actions that allow the agreement to be renewed.
Less than a week later, Brussels dealt a new blow to Spanish fishermen by banning them from fishing and transporting albacore caught in the Mediterranean Sea. Today, the same thing is happening with anchovies off the coast of Antarctica.
