The Motril fishing sector will stay in port tomorrow, as well as fishing boat all along the Spanish Mediterranean ports, in protest of trawling restrictions.

This follows the decisions being taken by the European Commission and the Central Government over fishing management.

“That’s it, we’ve gone as far as we’re going [as] they’re strangling us too much,” said the Chairman Ignacio López, adding, “we are evidently healthy-food producers and not offenders, which is how we are being treated lately and it’s just not right.”

Tomorrow was chosen because it coincides with the European Parliament which will be discussing trawling in the Mediterranean under the subject heading of “building a future for sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean.”

“We say no to the Mediterranean Demersal [fish that live on the bottom] Plan which affects the trawling; a sector that has already made too many sacrifices and which strongly diminished… …reducing fishing days per year to under 190, causing companies to close down and lay offs amongst fishermen,” said Sr. López.

The problem is that changes being discussed forces small fishing boats manned by two or even just one person, to install a computer that will control the amount of fish caught. It’s bad enough, considers Sr. López, having to sort through all the paperwork each time a boat goes out.

Editorial comment: There is no doubt that be it farming or be it fishing, market regulations always swing in the favour of big businesses, squeezing out small farmers and fishing boats. On the other hand, there are just not that many fishes left to trawl out of existence, so there must be reductions in quotas.

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