On 9 October 2022, regulation 2022/1614 ordered by the Fisheries Commission came into force. closing bottom fishing More than 16,400 square kilometers are in community waters. In short, 87 areas where “vulnerable marine ecosystems are known to exist or are likely to exist” – as stated in the document. The only possibility is that the team of Virginijus Sinkevicius and Charlina Vitcheva will send bottom trawlers and long ropes, mostly Galician, to the gallows in a pattern with bathymetry errors. As FARO from the Prensa Ibérica group has shown, almost half of these areas did not even reach a depth of 400 meters, eliminating any possibility of manipulation by the regulation. And as this paper reveals, there were two serious procedural problems: the veto was enforced without any socioeconomic impact analysis and without any data on the long footprint on the seafloor. The Fisheries Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee (STECF), which must assess the extent to which this regulation will harm the fleet and coastal economies, will not publish its report until the second week of July. A lost year for an industry that has since scored, Worst capture and revenue records in the entire historic series.
In a written question, popular MEP Francisco Millán Mon questioned the commissioner for STECF’s pending opinion. “The Commission confirmed on January 6 that it had already requested the Committee to review the implementing regulations”, but “has not yet issued this opinion, which should include economic, social and employment aspects”. When asked about the publication date of this study, the commissioner does not specify any date. “The Commission hopes that STECP’s opinion – these are Spanish abbreviations for scientific and technical committee – will be published in the weeks following the plenary meeting from 10-14 July 2023”. If August is also a holiday in Brussels, it may happen that the veto economic analysis on bottom fishing comes one year after the announcement of the regulation made on September 15, 2022.
This massive setback for the fleet was initiated based on a report by ICES (International Council of Marine Exploration in Spanish, CIEM). They do not know about the economic impact of a measure of these properties. “As the socioeconomic implications are unknown, preference is difficult to determine. Some fishermen go to certain places on a regular basis, and although the effort is not very high, it can be important to them”, that 248-page document word for word. Conditions of the VME (Sensitive Marine Ecosystems, sensitive marine ecosystems): data is missing“, large amount.
But it did affect another decisive aspect: it applies the same standards to mobile vehicles (such as trawlers) and stationary vehicles (longlines), although its impact on the seafloor has never been evaluated. “While it is possible to measure the effects of moving gear on bottom contact, there are still problems with boats using fixed gear.”. It also points to their inability to “reliably” assess the extent to which their activities represent an “effort” for the ecosystem. And scientists say: “Benthic footprint [en el fondo del mar] and the effects of these arts are largely unknown. The attack on this fleet, which had a large presence on the coast of Lugo and in the port of Vigo, was also completed.
This served as the basis for the Spanish Government’s appeal to the General Court of the European Union. As can be seen in his statement, for two obvious reasons: “Neglecting the analysis of the impact of fixed fishing gear in deep waters is against the Basic Regulation and the principle of proportionality” and “identifying areas where the impact of fixed fishing gear in deep water is known”. existence or probabilities of vulnerable marine ecosystems Violating the Basic Regulation and the principle of proportionality”. So far this year, Galician markets have recorded sales of 37,281 tonnes of fish for just over 100m euros, the lowest as there are records for equivalent periods.
Source: Informacion
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