The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has announced this Monday the allocation of 13 additional fishing days for the Mediterranean trawling fleet, with the aim of ensuring its activity until the end of the year and avoid supply problems in the imminent Christmas campaign.
The measure, communicated by Minister Luis Planas, will benefit 557 vessels fishing in Mediterranean waters, thus equaling the final fishing days already reached in 2024.
Planas guarantees supply: “There will be no lack of fish or seafood at Christmas”.
Planas stressed the economic importance of the last months of the year for the fleet and assured that supply is guaranteed:
“We rule out any possibility of shortages during this Christmas season,” he stressed.
The Minister explained that the decision was taken after numerous conversations with the European Commission, which have allowed to ensure the continuity of fishing activity and to provide “certainty and planning” to shipowners and crews.
A decision supported by scientific reports
The Agriculture Minister pointed out that the latest scientific reports reflect a good evolution of the fish stocks, which would fully justify the extension of the fishing effort this year.
Planas recalled that the EC had reduced the fishing effort for 2025 to only 27 days, a decision that Spain managed to reverse through new management measures such as:
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changes in mesh size,
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specific closures,
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adjustments in fishing gear.
As a result, an average of 130 fishing days per vessel were recovered, to which the 13 extraordinary days have now been added.
International tuna negotiations
The minister also referred to the ICCAT meeting, which is taking place these days in Seville, where more than 60 countries are negotiating the management of Atlantic and Mediterranean tuna fisheries. Planas was optimistic about obtaining a 19.3% increase in quotas.
“We hope that a consensus on the chair’s proposal will be possible,” he said.
Planas criticizes PP for proposing VAT reduction
On the other hand, the minister described as “comical” the video published by the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in which he announces that his party will propose in Congress a lowering of VAT on foods such as eggs, meat or fish.
“It is absolute opportunism that a party that increased VAT on food now says it will lower it,” Planas pointed out.
The minister recalled that the government follows “very closely” the evolution of prices and expressed his understanding for the concern of consumers.
