Spanish Fishing Sector Does Not Accept Condemnation Due To “One Rotten Apple”ff

Source: Europa Press

The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (Cepesca) said on Sunday that it was “not willing to tolerate” that “for the behavior of a particular businessman”, the “entire sector, which employs over 50,000 fishermen in Spain, should be deemed” and generally "strictly complies with current fishing regulations."

Cepesca manifested this in a statement, after a report in which Greenpeace accused the regional government and central government of financing companies that were carrying out illegal fishing.

Because of this issue, Cepesca considered “manipulated and interpreted” the claims made by the environmental platform and has called its report “a gross collection of press statements of certain NGOs.”

Cepesca has also rejected the environmentalists’ “strive to point the Spanish fleet out as the source of all evils of the oceans”, since, “their catches represent only five percent of the total world catch”.

Financial Aids

Furthermore, with regard to aid granted by the authorities to the sector, Cepesca also pointed out that both the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Community, as well as the various treaties that have been modified, recognize the existence of a “clear inequality”  of the average income level of the fisheries sector compared to the rest of the population.

For this reason, Cepesca assured that –within the objectives of the fisheries policy- they reflect “the need to ensure a fair standard of living to the fishing population, especially by increasing the individual earnings of those engaged in fishing”.