Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain Luis Planas and Minister of Marine Affairs of ??Portugal Ana Paula Vitorino on Monday signed the Agreement on Performance Conditions of the Activity of the Spanish and Portuguese fleets.
The agreement was signed in Luxembourg, within the framework of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the European Union, and according to both ministers, it will allow a better management of fishery resources and will give stability to the fleets of both countries.
The validity of the agreement, five years extendable for two more years, also responds to the demand of the sector itself, which requested during the last Luso-Spanish Committee to reach a “stable and durable” agreement.
The reached agreement regulates the fishing activity at the mouths of the rivers Miño and Guadiana, and in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean that surround the Iberian Peninsula, under Spanish or Portuguese sovereignty or jurisdiction.
The text defines the area of ??activity for each fleet or fishery as well as the maximum number of boats. To accompany its implementation, a Mixed Commission that will meet annually is also created.
In the case of inland waters, the maximum number of vessels of each country that may fish in the waters under the jurisdiction of the other will be 15 purse seine vessels and 30 trawlers, for the section between 12 and 200 miles off both coasts.
Regarding the border waters of the Miño River, the agreement applies within 12 miles, and includes up to 6 miles north and south of the river border, except for purse seiners, for which the fishing zone of 10 miles north and south of the border is maintained. The agreement establishes fishing opportunities for 26 artisanal vessels and 18 purse-seine vessels from each country, and does not establish a limit for gamelas (boats with outboard motor).
At the border of the Guadiana River, the agreement fixes the activity within 12 miles off the coast and along 15 miles to the east and west of the river, except in the case of artisanal fishing, whose regulation only affects the first 7 miles on each side of the border.
For the Spanish fleet, 25 licenses are established for vessels dedicated to bivalve trawling, 7 for purse seines, 2 for artisan trammel and 10 for artisanal coquina. For the Portuguese fleet, 8 purse seine licenses are established, 11 for trammel nets, 10 for artisan trammel, 6 for gillnets, 7 for pots and 2 for artisanal hooks.
One of the novelties of the agreement affects the regulation of the disembarkation schedule of the trawler fleet, which will not be able to unload its catches in ports of the other country during the weekend, and until Tuesday at 00:00 hours. This measure favours the Spanish northwestern Cantabrian fleet, forced to stop during the weekend, unlike the Portuguese fleet that is allowed to fish.
The fishing activity of the Spanish and Portuguese fleets has been regulated since 1986 by bilateral agreements signed by both governments.
After signing this agreement, the ratification process begins in both States through the corresponding parliamentary procedure.
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