The State is allowing the Mediterranean fleet to sail for another 13 days to avoid a shortage of fish and seafood at Christmas.

BarcelonaThe Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has allocated 13 additional fishing days to the Mediterranean trawling fleet to guarantee its activity until the end of the year and ensure the supply of fish and seafood for the upcoming Christmas season, the ministry announced. This comes after a shortage of fishing days due to quotas set by the European Union. This raised fears of a shortage of fish and seafood in Catalonia. During the holidays.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, announced this Monday the decision, which will benefit the 557 vessels fishing in the Mediterranean and its coastal areas. With this new allocation, the final number of fishing days will be the same as in 2024. Planas acknowledged that these months are of great economic importance for the trawler fleet due to the Christmas season. "We rule out any possibility of a shortage of fish or seafood during this Christmas season," the minister stressed.

With this measure, following "numerous discussions" with the European Commission, the Ministry ensures that the Mediterranean fleet can plan its fishing trips until the end of the year, as the affected vessels are currently being notified. "This extraordinary allocation allows us to offer shipowners and crews certainty, stability, and planning capacity to face the final months of the year with confidence," it stated. "We understand that the positive trend in fish stocks, as seen in the latest scientific reports, fully justifies the measure and, therefore, that the issue is resolved for this year. On December 11 and 12, we will discuss the matter for 2026 in Brussels," it noted. It is worth recalling that the European Commission reduced the fishing authorization for 2025 to 27 days, a decision that was mitigated by the application of management measures related to mesh size, closed seasons, and fishing gear. With these measures, an average of 130 fishing days per vessel have been recovered, to which these 13 additional fishing days are now added.

"We are fully committed to defending the interests of the sector to ensure the continuity of activity in a context of fish stock recovery. This measure comes to provide reassurance and full support to the sector, which deserves it," Planas reiterated.

Criticism of the PP

On the other hand, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries has described the TikTok This weekend, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo announced that his party would bring a VAT reduction on food items like eggs, meat, and fish to Congress. "I find it comical that a party that increased VAT on food is now saying it will lower it. It makes absolutely no sense and is utterly opportunistic," Planas criticized.

The Minister of Agriculture, who acknowledged that his department is following the situation "very closely" the evolution of pricesHe understands the consumers' "concern" and criticizes the Popular Party's request. "The Popular Party always solves things by eliminating taxes," he reiterated.