The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, has assured that the Consell "will be the first to compensate for the cuts in fishing imposed by the European Union with a subsidy of 2,8 million euros for the sector in the Valencian Community."
The head of the Consell has announced the launch of a line of direct aid "to finance 100% of the change of nets" of all the boats of the Valencian Community affected by the European Union agreement that reduces fishing days and that can be requested from next Monday.
This was his opinion following the meeting held with the Minister of Agriculture, Water, Livestock and Fisheries and representatives of the fishermen's associations of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia.
The head of the Consell explained that "this line of aid will be made available immediately so that, before May, the date imposed in the agreement to increase the fishing days authorized by Europe." The increase is conditional on compliance with a series of requirements such as the size of the nets, the type of doors or the implementation of selective bans.
"To this end," he continued, "an average of 12.500 euros will be allocated per boat to acquire at least four new nets with the measurements established by the European agreement," that is, 45 millimetres, in the case of coastal fishing, and 50 millimetres, in the case of deep-sea fishing.
The highest representative of the Valencian Government has also assured that other support measures for the fishing sector are being finalised to support them after the conditions imposed and to be able to increase, even more, the days of fishing, subsidising, with the highest possible percentage, the change of the flying doors.
Request for aid from the central government
The president has praised the "immediate reaction of the Generalitat, which will not allow this situation of harassment to continue" in the face of the "incomprehensible decisions taken by the European Union with the silence of the Government, which puts at risk a key productive sector that supports thousands of families in the Valencian Community."
The economic repercussions are not limited to fishing vessels, but also affect guilds, fish markets, fish wholesalers, fishmongers and a large number of companies that depend on this activity, such as ship mechanics, net makers, caulkers and shipyards, as well as the hotel and tourism industry.
For this reason, it has reiterated its commitment to defend the interests of the sector "with all the mechanisms and resources at our disposal" because "it is fair and this Consell does believe in the present and future of our fishing industry", and has demanded that the Government of Spain "repair the lack of influence and the inefficiency demonstrated in the negotiations in the European Union", while calling for state support in order to avoid its dismantling.
He also regretted that in recent years, with the current Spanish Government, fishing has gone from 200 days to just 30 with the current EU agreement and with "more restrictions on our boats", while other competitors in the Mediterranean have doubled or tripled their fishing fleet.
Finally, he recalled that the Consell has adopted measures such as the elimination of Generalitat fees for fishing boats in the ports of the Community, so that "from 1 January 2025 no fishing boat will pay these fees", or the creation of a General Directorate of Fisheries.