The main objective of these grants is to support the sustainability of the fishing activity of the fleet that is committed to respect the environment

Andalusia allocates more than EUR 2 million to fleets affected by fishing bans in the Gulf of Cádiz

SPAIN
Thursday, November 14, 2019, 13:10 (GMT + 9)

For the first time, crew members and trawlers will receive incentives relating to 30 days of suspension of fishing activities versus the maximum of 15 days set before

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of Andalusia will allocate more than EUR 2 million to support fishermen and shipowners affected by the temporary stops of the Andalusian bottom trawler and purse-seine fleets that fish in the Gulf of Cádiz.

Specifically, the 2019 call includes, on the one hand, subsidies worth EUR 1.15 million for trawlers (EUR 250,000 for shipowners and EUR 900,000 for crewmembers); and on the other hand, EUR 900,000 for purse-seine vessels (EUR 200,000 for those who operate the vessels and EUR 700,000 for sailors).

It will be the first time that the beneficiaries of the trawling fleet will have access to incentives corresponding to a total of 30 days of shutdown compared to the maximum of 15 days established above. Purse-seine professionals have already achieved this increase in subsidies made available for the fishing ban of the beginning of the year.

This modification was agreed last June in the framework of the update of the calendar of financially supported fishing closures in 2019 through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2014-2020. As for the minimum term that vessels that qualify for these subsidies must prove inactivity, the computable period is reduced to 30 days, while in previous calls it was 45 days.

Applications for aid for the temporary cessation of the fishing activity of the bottom trawling fleet in the Gulf of Cádiz can be processed for 15 business days from November 13, 2019. These grants correspond to the fishing ban set from September 16 to October 31, which they observed in 2019 as in previous years.

Biological stop in the Port of Huelva (Photo: Stockfile)

Furthermore, those affected by the stop of the purse seiner fleet in this same Andalusian fishing ground will also have a 15-day term, as of December 2, to process the application. The stop of these Andalusian ships is included in their management plan, which establishes a fishing ban from December 1, 2019 until January 31 of next year. For this fleet, the computable period of inactivity is also reduced for the purposes of the 30-day aid compared to the two months of previous calls.

The main objective of these grants is to support the environmental sustainability of the fishing activity in order to guarantee the continuity of the resources  and, at the same time, the profitability of the fleet that is committed to respecting the environment.

The Andalusian trawler fleet is made up of 125 ships in which around 600 sailors work. The main ports where these vessels operate are located in the province of Cádiz (Sanlúcar de Barrameda, 39 ships) and Huelva (Isla Cristina, 36 boats; Ayamonte, 14 boats; Lepe, ten boats; and Punta Umbría, 9 boats).

The purse-seine fleet of Andalusia is made up of 82 vessels in which around 800 sailors work. These ships are distributed, mainly, between two Cadiz ports (Barbate, with 25 boats, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, with 13) and two others in the province of Huelva (Cristina Island, with 19 boats, and Punta Umbría, with 18). 

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