Argentina’s new president did not need to swing a chainsaw to upset the country’s fishing industry, nor Galicia’s, as dramatically as during the campaign. Changes to Federal Fisheries Law championed by the ultraliberal executive Javier Milei have shaken many expectations in the last days, and the scene on both sides of the Atlantic is suddenly surprising. The prospect of liberalizing the sector and introducing international bids to auction licenses and quotas threatens the sense of legal security that Galician companies have relied upon for years, along with the investments in ships and facilities. If the Omnibús Law is enacted, Argentinian operations could generate more than €420 million in business for fishing firms with strong Galician ties.
The so-called “bombshell” that drew anger from employers, crews, and the Argentinian navy came just days after a tariff increase that now taxes sector exports at 15% of their value. This new measure is part of the Law on Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, and the Milei administration added amendments and repeals to various fishing laws. In short, this would enable permits and quotas to be sold to the highest bidder, with little regard for ship nationality, crew labor, or historical catches and investments in the sector.
If the proposal goes ahead, the income statements of Galician fishing companies operating in Argentina would face serious risk, according to the latest data. Total sales could top €420 million, with catches of at least 60,000 tonnes of hake, squid, and shrimp, though hake would be the only species included in the quota system among the three.
These figures reflect the subsidiaries of the Galician groups most exposed, led by Iberconsa. The company, headed by Alberto Freire, holds almost 15% of its quota in the country, the maximum permitted. Yet the reform would also affect Nueva Pescanova, long depended on the strength of the fishing sector in Argentina and on Argenova to balance the group’s global accounts.
Other major players—Grupo Profand, Vieirasa, Gandón (owner of Pesquera Cruz del Sur, once shared with Fandicosta), Videmar, and Wofco, which ranks fourth among Spanish fishing firms and owns 45% of Conarpesa—also stand to be impacted. They are the principal operators catching hake and shrimp in Argentina.
Even though the main sector leaders had already spoken through statements in Argentine media on Thursday, they did so again the next day in collaboration with Intercamaras. The alliance, representing eight employer unions across the sector, issued a statement criticizing the reform. It pointed out that the industry was not consulted about these changes and warned they would have a tangible impact.
Inter Cámaras argued that the project sidelines fishing’s past achievements, ongoing investments, and the Argentinian workforce. “The magnitude of the changes planned requires the direct involvement of stakeholders,” the group summarized.
In Argentina, Milei has remained quiet on the controversy, commenting only obliquely through a post on social media.
Change in the Rules of the Game
In Galicia, companies have kept their counsel as they await how the Omnibus Law will unfold. Changes will be debated in Congress on January 25, and for now, local players align with colleagues and partners across the Atlantic.
The regional government has pushed back, criticizing Javier Milei’s recent steps and the alarm they have caused in the sector. While he leads the party governing Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo praised the Argentinian ultraliberal, yet from the Consellería do Mar officials suggest that both the export tariffs and the proposed legislative changes have upended the rules of the game almost overnight.
Argentinian fishing ties matter deeply for Galicia, which in 2022 imported more than 300 million from the sector. The Ministry has noted that Galician firms sustain thousands of jobs—nearly 4,800 locally—and stressed the importance of balanced, forward-looking decisions and meaningful dialogue to defend Spanish, especially Galician, interests against destabilizing changes.
Officials and industry voices insist that steady, prudent policymaking is essential. They call for open discussions that protect livelihoods and ensure sustainable growth for Galician fleets and the broader Spanish seafood sector.