Surface longline vessel. (Photo: Mediterranea)

Surface longline fleet may qualify for temporary cessation aid

SPAIN
Friday, May 19, 2017, 23:30 (GMT + 9)

The Undersecretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of Andalusia, Carmen Ortiz, has expressed her satisfaction at a modification of the current legislation that will allow the surface longline fleet to benefit from the aid for the temporary cessation of the activity.

In a meeting with the Secretary General of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, Alberto López Asenjo, the undersecretary explained that this modification responds to "a vindication of the fishing sector" that from Junta de Andalucía had transferred to the Ministry Agriculture and Fisheries on different occasions.

During the meeting, the representatives of the regional and central administration, among other issues, talked about the various new features included in the Royal Decree published last May 13, which modifies the conditions that prevented the access of Andalusian fishermen to subsidies related to this cessation.

Ortiz stressed that this new regulation contains most of the requests from the Andalusian sector transmitted by the undersecretary to Minister Isabel García Tejerina, although "there are still some technical issues that will have to be shaped."

Likewise, the undersecretary has appreciated that López Asenjo states that at the next Fisheries Sector Conference will consider the establishment of the closure months that affect this sector, and specifically, on the Mediterranean, where it is not mandatory to stop the activity in 2017.

Carmen Ortiz said that the Andalusian Government agrees with the Secretary General and the fisheries sector on the need to establish temporary stops from 2018 based on technical reports "that endorse the most appropriate dates from a scientific point of view."

"We are talking about the recovery plan for the Mediterranean, which is a priority objective" for the Andalusian Government, said the head of Fisheries.

After the meeting of the representatives of the Undersecretariat and the Ministry, Ortiz and López Asenjo, met with representatives of the Andalusian Federation of Fishing Associations (FAAPE), the Andalusian Federation of Fishermen's Unions (FACOPE), the National Association of Owners of Freezer Seafood Fishing Vessels (ANAMAR) and the Spanish Confederation of Fisheries (CEPESCA) to discuss matters of interest that affect the different fleets.

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print