Spain’s General Secretariat of Fisheries informed that as of December 1, it will not be possible to catch rays in Iberian waters to avoid overfishing this resource.
The final closure was set after reviewing the “current data” on ray catches in zones VIII – from the Bay of Biscay to Fisterra – and IX – from Fisterra to the Gulf of Cádiz -, to prevent vessels from exceeding the allocated quota to Spain for this year, La Opinión reported.
The fleet has been able to catch rays since last November 13, when the fishery was reopened with weekly limits of 150 kilos per vessel until the quota is exhausted. At that time, the sector had approximately 53 tonnes of rays and hoped that they would be sufficient until the end of the year.
Director General of Fisheries and Aquaculture Management José Luis González Serrano informed through a press release that the fishing ban will begin to apply from 00:00 on Friday, December 1. The boats will only be able to download the quantities captured and declared before the closing date.
The president of the Provincial Federation of Fishermen’s Associations of A Coruña, Daniel Formoso, expressed his regret when he heard the news.
“It is a very serious problem for the sector, mixed fisheries can not avoid catching rays,” he said.
The leaders of the fishermen’s associations of Galicia agreed to propose to the other fleets of the Bay of Biscay and to the trawlers the quota consumption “with charge” to the quota of 2018, which Brussels should still set in December. This proposal takes into account that the current regulations allow up to 10 per cent of the fishing possibilities available to a sector for a given year for one species to be transferred to another one.
“We will try to make arrangements so that it does not close or, if it closes, reopen as soon as possible,” explained Fajardo.
The Galician fishermen intend to send to Madrid a consensual proposal with the entire fleet.
The sector claims for next year weekly limits of the species and a quarterly management to prevent premature closures such as this year or overfishing, as it occurred in 2015.
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