Valencia pledges 2.8 million euros to assist the region’s fishing sector
Each fishing vessel will receive financial assistance to help meet the costs of changing fishing equipment, such as net mesh size.
The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, has confirmed that the regional government is to compensate the fishing sector in the Comunidad Valenciana, which is facing proposed regulatory changes imposed by the European Union, with a 2.8 million euro grant.
Having met with representatives of the fishing guilds of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia, Mazón explained that the direct aid will be available from next Monday so that the sector will be prepared well in advance of the change in regulations to the size of nets and the implementation of selective bans.
An average of 12,500 euros will be allocated per vessel so that the owners are able to purchase at least four new nets which comply with the new EU regulations, which call for a 45mm mesh size for coastal fishing and a 50mm mesh size for deep-sea fishing, larger sizes than currently used.
The president added that other support measures for the fishing sector are currently being finalised to help it face the conditions imposed on its by the European Commission which will allow it to be able to increase the number of days it will be able to fish the Mediterranean waters as well as meet the cost of the regulatory changes to the trawl net doors.
He also praised the “immediate reaction of the Generalitat which will now allow the harassment [of its fishing fleet] to continue” in the face of “incomprehensible decisions taken by the European Union … which puts at risk a key productive sector that supports thousands of families in the Comunidad Valenciana”.
The economic repercussions of the new proposals are not limited to the fishing vessels, he explained, but would also affect the fishing guilds, fish markets, fish wholesalers, fishmongers, and a large number of companies that depend on the sector’s activity, such as nautical mechanics, net makers, and shipyards as well as the hotel and tourism industry.
Mazón demands that the Government of Spain “repair the lack of influence and the inefficiency demonstrated in the negotiations in the European Union” and called for state support in order to avoid its dismantling. In recent years, he said, fishing has gone from 200 days to just 30 with the current EU agreement and with “more restrictions on our boats”, while other competitors in the Mediterranean have doubled or tripled their fishing fleet.
Finally, he confirmed that the regional government had already adopted measures to support the sector, such as the elimination of fees for fishing boats in the region’s ports from January 1st 2025 and the creation of a General Directorate of Fisheries.
