Catalan fishermen, tied to land on the eve of Christmas: "They are denying us the right to work"

GironaPurse seining is the main fishing method used by the Catalan fleet, responsible for most of the fish and seafood that reaches our fishmongers. However, of the approximately 190 purse seine vessels in Catalan ports, 80% are currently moored, unable to set sail each morning. These are dozens of boats that are not putting to sea because, a month and a half before the end of the year, they have exhausted their quotas. quota days set by the European CommissionOr they have very few left and are rationing them until the end of the year to extend the season as much as possible before the Christmas season. All of this has left hundreds of sailors unemployed and the skippers without income on land. Faced with this situation, the sector feels suffocated by regulations on quotas, fishing bans, and restrictions, and complains that the numbers simply don't add up for them to continue in the profession.

Paco Curro, a red shrimp fisherman from Roses, is one of those affected. The crustacean he fishes for every day is highly prized during the Christmas holidays and is caught using deep-sea trawling. As of November 20th, however, Curro only has five days left to leave port. "We're scared. I only go out when the weather is good to take advantage of the opportunity, and when my days are up, the five families I have on board will be out of work," he laments. He adds: "If we keep tying up all the boats, the crews of each skipper will go and earn a living in other jobs on land, and then they won't come back. Next year we might have days to fish again, but we might not have people to work." In Roses, 16 of the 18 purse seine boats are tied up. These days, the port has a tense calm, with less traffic and activity than usual, only small boats using minor fishing gear coming and going.

In the south of the country, in L'Ametlla de Mar, the situation is even worse, and all 19 boats have been in port for almost a month. Miquel Brull, the head of the Baix Ebre port fishermen's guild, is furious: "We spend our days on land, not working, but not sleeping either, we're so nervous about how we'll keep the business afloat. They've denied us the right to work," he says. He concludes: "The government in Madrid must heed the scientific reports, which are favorable, and allow us to fish and try to save the sector."

"It is not true that there are fewer fish than ever before.

In Blanes, it's more or less the same. Of the 13 boats, 2 are idle, and the rest are about to be laid up. Josep Maria Estelada's two-man boat has been moored since November 5th. He fishes in the coast, catching fish like hake, redfish, monkfish, wrasse, and scorpionfish. "Before 2020, I went out fishing 205 days a year, then it dropped to 173, and this year we're down to 120. Throughout the year, we've been going out 4 days instead of 5 [a week] to stretch it out, but even so, we've already run out of days in November and December," he explains. Estelada has just retired at 65, but he has a crew member and a skipper who are still manning his boat, now moored. "We're not begging for more days to finish the year; we want them to return every single day of fishing rights that they've stolen from us so we can survive as workers," he affirms.

The fishermen also assert that, in recent years, thanks to the sector's good work, the seabed has recovered and there is plenty of fish: "It's not true that there's less fish than ever. The indicators say that much less is being caught, but that's because the fleet is much smaller than it was decades ago. For three years in a row, my average daily catch has been lower," argues Estelada.

Reversing quotas to guarantee the Christmas season

Antoni Abad, head of the Roses fishermen's guild and president of the Federation of Fishermen's Guilds of Catalonia, sums up all this discontent: "We're left feeling like fools, like chewed gum that's been spat out, anxiously wondering once and for all if we can go out to sea or not," he says. He asserts that the situation is already noticeable in the fishing stands: "There's a shortage of product from our coast. Fish is plentiful everywhere, they're bringing it from other places, but ours, which is special, will be missing at Christmas if things don't change." In response to these complaints and demands, the Catalan government is siding with the Catalan fishermen and calling on the European Commission for immediate action to reverse the current restrictions, which, in the words of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Òscar Ordeig, have triggered a "critical" and desperate situation. The government is also considering new aid measures and assures that it will continue to support fishermen's associations, fish markets, and families while negotiating with the ministry and the EU to reverse the cuts.