The Consell de Formentera has expressed its full support to the trawling fleet of the island and has joined the mobilizations organized in response to the report of the European Commission, which proposes a reduction of almost 80% in the fishing days allowed for 2025 compared to those made in 2024.
Impact of the report on the local fleet
The document, which will be discussed at the next Council of Ministers in Brussels on December 9 and 10, could become a regulation and would reduce the activity of trawlers to just 27 days a year. This cut, added to previous reductions applied since 2020, puts at risk the survival of the Mediterranean fishing sector, including the small fleet of Formentera, composed of two vessels: Punta de Ponent and La Punta Gavina.
Planned mobilizations
In coordination with the fishermen’s guilds of the Spanish Mediterranean, the owners of these vessels will not go out to fish on December 9 and 10 as a sign of disagreement with the proposed measures. In addition, representatives of the sector will attend a demonstration organized in front of the European Commission office in Madrid, where they will be accompanied by fishermen from Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and Catalonia. The Mayor Patron of the Fishermen’s Guild of Formentera, Iván Pérez Marí, will also go to Brussels to express the island’s rejection of this proposal, which they consider unsustainable for traditional fishing.
Concentration in La Savina
Locally, next Monday, at 10:30 am, a rally will be held at the port of La Savina, which will be attended by the president of the Consell, Llorenç Córdoba, in support of the island’s fishing sector. From Formentera, it is requested that 2025 be considered a transition year, maintaining the fishing days of 2024, to assess the effects of the current Fisheries Management Plan, which has been in force since 2020.
