Trawling is going through its most critical moment after four years of restrictions from the European Union (EU). The successive cuts in the days allowed for fishing, implemented since 2020, have left the sector on the brink of collapse. The fishing guilds of the Marina Alta (Dénia, Xàbia, Calp and Moraira) see their continuity in danger due to the latest community proposal, which would reduce fishing days from the current 140 days to just 27 in 2024, which according to those involved, is a death sentence for the activity.
Since the EU implemented its policy of reducing fishing days in the Mediterranean in 2020 with the stated aim of ensuring sustainability, the sector has experienced a steady decline. Trawler fleets, which previously had 240 days to work, have seen this figure progressively reduced to 140 days in 2023.
The EU proposal was promoted by the outgoing Fisheries Commissioner and has the support of the majority of member states, except Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece, which together with Portugal defend the Mediterranean fishing sector. Despite these efforts, the prospects of achieving a moratorium are slim.
The fishing sector is also critical of the sustainability arguments put forward by Brussels. According to the Alicante fishing associations, "boats have been fishing more recently", which questions the need for such severe cuts. They also denounce unequal competition, pointing out that "imported fish does not comply with the same standards" as those imposed on local boats.
Trawling is key to the economy of the Marina Alta and to local gastronomy, bringing in such emblematic products as the red shrimp from Dénia or the white shrimp from Calp. "These are not measures aimed at the sector, they are an attempt to go against it," said Paco Català, Senior Patron of the Calp Fishermen's Guild.
Català points out that with the measures implemented previously "you already had to spend money out of your own pocket to work, because the aid is insufficient." Now, if the latest proposed cuts are carried out, "we refuse to work like this, it is a mockery of us," he says.
According to the National Federation of Fishermen's Guilds, these measures not only affect the fishing sector, but also restaurants, distributors, local vendors, as well as coastal communities that will suffer from them. For this reason, the Alicante fishermen's guilds will join the protests called in front of the permanent headquarters of the European Commission in Madrid on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 December, according to Català.
