The mussel sector represents around two thirds of the value of the Galician aquaculture.

Galician mussel sector received 75pct of aid for aquaculture productive investments

SPAIN
Tuesday, July 17, 2018, 00:30 (GMT + 9)

Galician mussel producers received 75 per cent of the subsidies requested last year for productive investments in aquaculture, amounting to EUR 2.1 million of the total amount (EUR 2.8 million) of the aid.

This was explained by Director General of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Technological Innovation Mercedes Rodríguez to the members of the Galician Parliament, answering a question related to the measures of the Xunta to promote mussel farming.

The director also highlighted that the registered trend is the same as in previous years. In fact, in 2016, of the total of EUR 1.7 million granted for productive investments in aquaculture, more than 80 per cent went to the mussel raft farming (bateeiro) sector.

She also noted that the call for 2018 is currently being resolved and that "it is foreseeable that the number of approved projects linked to the mussel sector will outperform the rest of the aquaculture species".

The Xunta allocates close to EUR 18.7 million to the call for 2018 to support productive investments, increase energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy sources, as well as technical, scientific, legal, environmental or economic advisory services in the field of aquaculture.

The general director stated that the provision of these aids that are co-financed with the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is a sample of the commitment and support of the Ministry of Marine Affairs to the mussel sector. A sector that represents around two thirds of the value of the Galician aquaculture production and that configures a conglomerate of producing, transforming and commercializing companies that generate some EUR 400 million of turnover, Rodriguez emphasized.

This revenue represents 30 per cent of the turnover of commercial companies of the towns of the coast and also the 10,000 jobs generated by the mussel farming sector account for 25 per cent of total employment in some coastal towns, she added.

Regarding the challenges that this sector must face, she pointed out that "there are concepts that must be present in the farming business, from capture to the consumer". Among them, she cited traceability, food safety, knowledge of the origin of the product, the contribution of greater added value, respect for the environment and sustainability.

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