Balearic Islands to defend viable fisheries policy before the EU

The European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, has called a meeting on the 3rd of September with the fisheries authorities of the five Mediterranean autonomous communities following the joint proposal they submitted to him in May.

The Balearic Islands will defend the recognition of insularity, a more regionalised fisheries management model based on co-management, and a review of the Western Mediterranean Multiannual Fisheries Plan that also guarantees the economic and social viability of the sector.

The Regional Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, will travel to Brussels on the 3rd of September to take part in the meeting convened by the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, with the fisheries authorities of Spain’s five Mediterranean autonomous communities: the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Region of Murcia and Andalusia.

Simonet will be accompanied by the Director General for Fisheries, Antoni M. Grau, at a meeting convened by the Commissioner himself following the letter jointly sent to him by the five regions in May, in which they proposed a series of reforms to European fisheries regulations in order to adapt them to the realities of the Mediterranean.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to learn the European Commission’s response to the proposals put forward by the five regions and, in particular, its willingness to turn them into specific amendments to EU legislation.

“We welcome the fact that the Commissioner has personally convened the five Mediterranean regions. In May, we presented him with specific proposals and now we want to know how far the Commission is prepared to go in adapting European fisheries policy to a reality it already understands and which, in the case of the Balearic Islands, the Commissioner was able to see first-hand,” Simonet said.

The joint proposal calls for the adoption of an Omnibus Fisheries Regulation that would allow for a specific review of the Common Fisheries Policy and various European regulations. The aim is to maintain the progress achieved in terms of environmental sustainability while at the same time restoring balance with the other two pillars of sustainability: the economic and social dimensions.

Among the measures proposed are specific legal recognition for the Mediterranean coastal fleet, made up mainly of small family businesses that carry out short fishing trips and sell their catches daily at the fish market; greater regionalisation of management; simplification of certain control obligations; a review of the way fishing effort is calculated; and changes to the Multiannual Management Plan for demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean, the regulation governing, among other issues, the number of fishing days available to the trawler fleet.

The five regions are also calling for European decisions to incorporate economic and social indicators alongside biological criteria, as well as a review of the system under which an entire fishery is conditioned by the status of the most vulnerable species, and of the double restriction currently applied to red shrimp, through limitations both on fishing days and on catches.

The proposal submitted to Brussels argues that the considerable efforts made by the Mediterranean fleet in recent years have enabled progress to be made in the recovery of fishery resources, but have at the same time had significant economic and social consequences for the sector. The document warns of the continued loss of vessels and jobs, the ageing of the fleet and the difficulties involved in ensuring generational renewal.

Within the joint position of the five regions, the Balearic Islands will focus particularly on recognition of their insular nature and on the need to move towards more regionalised fisheries management based on co-management.
The Balearic Government will argue that European fisheries policy should allow fisheries to be managed taking into account the ecological and socio-economic characteristics of each area of the Mediterranean, and should give territorial administrations, fishers, the scientific community and other stakeholders greater participation in decision-making.

“We are not questioning the European Union’s environmental objectives. What we are saying is that sustainable fishing must be environmentally sustainable, but also economically and socially sustainable. And to achieve that, we need decisions to be brought closer to the territory and to take into account the characteristics of each fishery,” Simonet stressed.

The Balearic Islands will also explain to Kadis the consequences that the successive restrictions under the Multiannual Plan have had on the Islands’ trawler fleet. The reduction in fishing days, combined with the loss of vessels recorded over the last decade, has led to a reduction in fishing effort of more than 50% in ten years and landings that are now around 40% below the average of the last thirty years.

For the Balearic Government, these figures demonstrate that the sustainability of fisheries cannot be assessed solely from a biological perspective, but must also take into account the survival of fishing businesses, employment, the marketing of local products and the social and cultural heritage historically linked to fishing.

The meeting on 3 September will follow on from the contact maintained between the Balearic Government and the European Commissioner during his official visit to the Balearic Islands last February.

During that visit, Kadis was able to see first-hand the particular characteristics of Balearic fisheries, the operation of the marine reserves and the co-management model promoted in the Islands. He also visited the Palma Fish Market, met with professional fishers and toured the Pere Garau market, where he was able to see the journey of local fishery products from capture to sale.

“In February, we had the opportunity to show the Commissioner our reality directly from the ports, the boats, the fish market and the marine reserves. We now hope that this knowledge, together with the joint proposal we submitted in May, can be translated into decisions,” Simonet said.

The Brussels meeting will also be particularly significant in view of preparations for the 2027 fishing opportunities. The Mediterranean regions will ask the Commission to avoid further automatic reductions in fishing effort while the Multiannual Plan is being reviewed, and to prioritise selectivity measures and management approaches adapted to each fishery over further reductions in fishing days.

“The Mediterranean sector has made an enormous effort in recent years. The objective now must be for environmental recovery to be accompanied by economic and social recovery as well, allowing us to keep boats at sea, guarantee generational renewal and preserve an activity that forms part of our economy, our food supply and our identity,” the Regional Minister concluded.