Spanish Government calls for "the greatest caution" on forthcoming negotiation for new EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement
This is what the Secretary General for Fisheries requested after a meeting held with the regional authorities for fisheries and the Spanish sector in order to analyze the recent verdict of the Court of Justice of Luxemburg.
For the Secretary General for Fisheries , the agreement "has great importance for the Spanish fishing interests and for the bilateral relations between both countries in general". It is a matter that "goes beyond the merely fishing scope".
Spain has about 60 vessels fishing thanks to this Agreement but none do so in the waters of the Western Sahara. "Of the average 83,000 tons captured in Morocco waters annually, the Spanish fleet captures only some 7,300 tons", Javier Garat, director of the ship-owner association, said at the end of the meeting.
The Spanish fleet fishing Morocco consists of vessels, largely dedicated to artisanal fishing, from Andalucía, Canary Islands and Galicia.
For the Spanish authorities the lack of such an Agreement will be tremendously unfavorable for its artisanal fleet, the great majority of it with no possibility of fishing in other fishing grounds. "Socially it would be a very serious setback".
Source: Mapama (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment)