Spain: The fisheries sector is calling for support to tackle fleet renewal

Fleet modernization

Javier Garat, Secretary General of Cepesca, the national fishing employers' association, was responsible for analyzing the causes that prevent the sector from undertaking the so longed-for renewal, within the webminar organized by Navalia, international shipbuilding exhibition which was going to take place in Vigo, in October, and finally cancelled.

According to Mr Garat, the vessels built in recent years or under construction correspond to a reality far removed from the circumstances faced by most fishing companies. He identified a number of factors that are preventing the sector from undertaking much-needed renovation:

(1) quota and allocation limitations; (2) the impossibility of accessing new fishing grounds or international fisheries, highly regulated by the RFOs; (3) funding trouble; (4) international vetoes on aid for new vessel construction, and (5) limitations on modernization imposed by a European Commission "obsessed" with fishing capacity.

The average age of 95% of the fleet is 34 years

At present, Spain has 8884 fishing vessels, 95% of which operate in the national fishing ground and have an average of age of 34 years. The small-scale fishing fleet in Galicia and Northwest Cantabria is the most affected by this situation. The average age of these vessels is 38 years, a very worrying situation according to Mr. Garat "since it is the largest fleet in Spain".

A characteristic phenomenon of the national fleet is that the longer it is, the more modern the vessel.

The social factor comes into play

"The national fishing grounds fleet needs a renewal”, Cepesca’s Secretary General said. “We are talking about an issue of safety at work that can be compromised on ships of such an age and with outdated safety measures and technological solutions”.

For him, the social factor also comes into play. With a strong demand for labor and no guarantee of generational change to lay the foundations for the future employment of the sector, an ageing fleet makes fishing less attractive as a professional option.

The problem seems to be that the sector does not know how to deal with this situation. The fleet is aware that there will be no aid for the construction of new vessels. It is holding on to the possibility that, at least, the next EMFF 2021-2027, which is currently being negotiated, will include aid to enable the sector to modernize vessels in order to improve habitability and comfort.

In this sense, Mr. Garat explained the need to highlight the concept of the "Social factor", coined by the sector to call for the improvement of working and living spaces without increasing the fishing capacity of the vessels.

“We have to convince the EU to adopt it, because what we want is to improve the living conditions on board”, he said. In addition, he recalled, "we must ensure that restrictions on fishing capacity do not limit the introduction of new technologies", so it is necessary to "provide for specific financial instruments". "The social factor has to be taken into account in the negotiation of the EMFF," Mr. Garat concluded.

The Secretary General ended his presentation by mentioning situations that create legal uncertainty, such as brexit.

Source: industriaspesqueras.com