The EU will allow fishing for 143 days without new environmental measures

BrusselsThe European Union will allow Catalan fishermen to fish in 2026 for the same number of days as this year, and they will not have to implement any additional environmental compensation measures beyond those already in place. This was announced at 3:00 AM this Saturday by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas, in a recorded video statement. Trawlers will be able to fish for 143 days throughout 2026 in Catalan waters. "We have achieved a good result, and I believe it is a clear success that I want to share with the fishermen, who have made many efforts," the Socialist leader stated.

The EU Council for Fisheries and Agriculture began on Wednesday, and negotiations dragged on considerably. The Spanish government did not reach an agreement until this morning. "The debate was very intense and important, with significant interests at stake for Spain and the fishing fleet," Planas affirmed. In fact, the starting point for the discussions was even worse for the Spanish government than last year. This year, the European Commission's proposal aimed to reduce trawling days in Catalan waters by 65%, leaving them at just nine days for all of 2026. This figure was deemed unacceptable by the Spanish government, the Catalan government, and the fishermen. Ultimately, the Spanish government, working jointly with France and Italy to pressure the European Commission, managed to increase this number to 143 days without implementing new compensatory environmental measures. This is thirteen more than initially agreed for this year, although last November, Spain added thirteen extra days. However, Catalan fishermen will still have to implement the same sustainability initiatives, such as using doors on their trawl nets that do not damage the seabed, and increasing the mesh size to avoid catching smaller specimens.

The fishermen reap their rewards.

The European Commission itself had admitted that the measures fishermen have already had to take have yielded positive results this year and that they are gradually approaching sustainability for all commercial species caught by trawling, although it called for further efforts to achieve full sustainability in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the Spanish government (Moncloa), the Catalan government (Generalitat), and the fishing sector also considered their efforts to have been successful and criticized Brussels for not allowing enough time to assess their positive effects. Finally, however, the European Commission has relented, and member states will not have to implement any new compensatory measures. Among the options under consideration were expanding protected areas or prohibiting trawling at depths of less than 600 meters. However, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries had already criticized this possibility, warning that the "creativity" for implementing new environmental countermeasures was "limited." "Never before has a fishing ground made such a great effort under the Common Fisheries Policy," Planas said at the start of the ministerial meeting where the annual fishing quotas for all EU waters were agreed upon. In a press conference, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries lamented that the European Commission only considers the status of species in the sea in its proposals for fishing quotas and, conversely, does not present socioeconomic reports. In fact, this was one of the demands of the Catalan government, and Planas himself called for safeguarding the sector and the identity of coastal communities. "The Mediterranean cannot be understood without fishing," the Socialist leader said. A "bittersweet" agreement

The fishing sector's enthusiasm for the final agreement on fishing days is much lower than that of the Spanish government. Speaking to ARA, Antoni Abad, president of the Catalan Federation of Fishermen's Guilds, acknowledged that fishermen had hoped for an agreement on 180 days and the lifting of restrictions on shrimp fishing. Nevertheless, he welcomed the fact that the negotiations "went well" and expressed confidence that the Ministry would find another way to increase the number of fishing days. "The important thing is that they have committed to reforming the regulations, which currently restrict all our activities," Abad commented. He believes the agreement reached is "bittersweet," even though it represents a substantial improvement over the initial proposal presented by the European Commission. Now, the federation president indicated that negotiations with the Spanish government will be necessary to ensure "an equitable distribution" of fishing days in Catalan waters.

"We will fish the same number of days as last year, but the work is not finished here," the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Òscar Ordeig, emphasized in a statement, stressing that the outcome is positive considering the starting point of the negotiations and thanking Minister Planas for his work and negotiating efforts. In this regard, he recalled that the initial proposal entailed a drastic reduction to nine fishing days, far from the sector's demands. "We started from a very unfavorable scenario, and in this context, a devastating impact on the fleet and the economy of coastal areas has been avoided," he asserted.

The Catalan government has also celebrated the elimination of the penalty linked to Norway lobster fishing, a measure that specifically affected the Catalan fleet even though scientific reports did not indicate overfishing. "It's a necessary correction and a victory for the Catalan sector," stated Minister Ordeig. Regarding sustainability, he defended the need to maintain internal incentives for vessels that invest in technical improvements such as flying doors. 32% of the Catalan fleet already has this system, and the government encourages the rest to move in this direction.

Speaking to RAC1, Ordeig also warned that it will be necessary to establish a distribution that is "as fair as possible," noting that the 143 days are "an average." However, he viewed the agreement more positively than the fishing sector and asserted that the Moncloa Palace managed to "accept" the initial proposal. "We stood firm against the European Commission," the regional minister concluded.