Juan Carlos Blanco, Andalusia Government Speaker. (Photo: Junta de Andalucía)

Andalusia approves new fisheries trade decree

SPAIN
Tuesday, July 17, 2018, 23:00 (GMT + 9)

The Government Council of Andalusia has approved the new decree on trade in origin of fisheries products in Andalusia, suited to the changes of the EU and state legislations.

The regulation replaces those in force on this matter since 1997, bringing together in a single text the regulation of sales and the traceability guarantee of capture fishing and shellfish harvesting, aquaculture and seaweed collection, which currently add up in the autonomous community an annual production of 69,000 tonnes with a value of EUR 293 million.

In addition to collecting the changes introduced in 2015 by the state regulations, the Andalusian decree introduces new features to increase the added value of products and strengthen consumer protection. These include the obligation to carry out the first sale at auction for shellfishing from a boat, the administrative procedure simplification required for shellfish collectors on foot and the possibility, for both subsectors, of selling the catches already subjected to cleansing process. It is also foreseen to include the denomination of the fishing grounds where the Andalusian fleet usually operates on the labels issued by the fish markets, reported the Office of the Andalusia Government Speaker.

According to the decree, the markets of the ports and their associated dispatch centres are the only places where the first sale of wild fishing and shellfish harvesting products can be made, whether they are live, fresh or chilled (excluding those frozen or processed on board). In this way, from the moment of unloading the controls for the protection of the resources are assured (on minimum sizes, closed seasons and prohibited species, among others) and the time the production data are obtained.

The regulation also monitors the first sale through contracts agreed before the capture, which has already been carried out as a result of the state legislation of 2015. With this modality, which is added to the traditional one of the auction, the shipowner ensures the sale and the buyer the price to be paid. As a novelty, the Andalusian decree requires that these contracts be formalized in writing, registered in the auction and contain information on their duration, species and price.

In Andalusia there are 25 fish markets (12 in the Gulf of Cádiz and 13 in the Mediterranean), with a linked census of 1,703 buyers. Last year, they managed a production of 48,124 tonnes worth EUR 150 million. These data include those of the nine associated expedition centres, located in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and La Atunara (Cádiz); Isla Cristina and Punta Umbría (Huelva), and the Malaga ports of Caleta-Vélez, Estepona, Fuengirola, Marbella and Málaga.

With respect to shellfish activity on foot or via immersion, trap fishing, frozen or processed products on board, aquaculture and seaweed and macroalgae, the first sale can be made, in addition to fish markets, in authorized facilities by the Administration fishery. In the case of aquaculture production, the centres of marine species farming have this consideration.

Apart from the nine expedition centres associated with fish markets, the Autonomous Community has 48 authorized establishments for the first sale of shellfish products on foot (88,538 kilos per year for a value of EUR 304,221); two for products from the traps in Barbate and Conil de la Frontera (390,737 kilos and EUR 5.99 million), and two for frozen products in Huelva (3,251 tonnes and EUR 56.5 million). With respect to aquaculture, there are 77 companies with installations on land and 24 at sea, with a joint annual production of 6,875 tonnes and a value of EUR 53.56 million.

Traceability

Both in the markets and in other establishments, the traceability of products is guaranteed through the electronic transmission and transmission of documents such as sales notes and documents for collection, transport and registration. The data obtained is also useful for the production of statistics and for the maintenance of fishery resources.

The Andalusian information system, officialized in the decree and integrated in the application 'Trazapes' of the central Administration, requires to detail the data relative to the name of the species, fishing gear and capture zone in the documents, among others that must reach the final consumer. The decree also opens the possibility of mentioning the Andalusian fishing grounds in the fish market labels, as a previous step to a promotion of differentiated quality compared to products from abroad.

The regulation approved by the Council opens up the possibility that the shellfishers, both by boat and on foot, will sell their already purified products and issued to increase the quality in first sale. Previously, it was mandatory to sell first, with the buyer being responsible for the transport to purification centre.
In the case of shellfishing on foot, which does not have to land in port, the main novelty is the unification in a single document of the transport and sanitary registration required for the transfer of the products to the purification centre and expedition.

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