The Motril fishing sector has suffered a new blow after the introduction of more restrictive regulations concerning trawling.

The EU has approved measures to take a tighter control over trawling in the Western Mediterranean. The next step is for the Spanish Government to implement them.

The Andalusian sector for trawling points out that they are the most interested party  in making sure that the fish-breeding grounds continue to produce fish, so they are not planning on overfishing them.

When the regulations come into force (2020) then the fishing quota must be reduced by 10% but the fishing fleet needs to be out fishing more than 230 days a year if they are to remain viable.

Four years ago, Motril had 18 trawlers operating out of the port, of which only 12 remain. Going back further, fifteen years ago, there were 32 trawlers operating out of the port.

It is precisely this reduction of the fleet that is easing the pressure on the fishing grounds they point out, so they don’t need more restrictive measures from the EU.

The Head of the Motril Fishing Sector, Ignacio López Cabrera, pointed out that if the 12 Motril trawlers are squeezed out of existence, then “those in front” will fill the gap. He was referring to Morocco and Algeria, who between them have 600 trawlers. Compare this number with the total Andalusian fleet, which was 210 trawlers but which have already been reduced to 92 in total.

The new regulations will keep the trawlers in port for three months, claim the trawler skippers, which will sink the sector.

The Head of the local sector also points out that they are doing all they can to protect the fishing waters with campaigns to literally fish out rubbish from the seabed – as reported in the Seaside Gazette in previous articles.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)