Murcian fishermen hope that their conflicts with Valencia and Catalonia regarding purse-seining of bluefin tuna will be resolved before the end of the tuna fishing ban in the Mediterranean.
Catalonia’s recent proposal is now to limit each Spanish autonomic community to fish only in its own bluefin fishing grounds, which would therefore enable Catalonia to benefits from the abundant bluefin fishing resources of its coasts. The General Director for the Fishery and Livestock Issues in Murcia, Mr. Falagan, said that a new meeting will be held on January 12th and that Murcian and Andalusian fishermen already count on the support of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture against the Catalonian proposal.
The head of the Association of Tuna Producers (ASETUN) from Murcia hopes on reaching an agreement because, he added, “if the Murcian bluefin tuna fisherman are not allowed to fish on the coasts of Catalonia, our purse seining vessels with have to stop its activities altogether, given that there is no fish at our own coastsâ€.
During a recent press conference, Adolfo Falagan, said that he expects a prompt solution to be found to the conflict existing between Murcian purse-seining fishermen and those of the regions Valencia and Catalonia regarding fishing grounds; in any case before the end of Spring, when the Mediterranean fishing ban period has finalized and bluefin tuna fishing can commence.
Mr. Falagan explained that since the meeting held in November with the representatives of Andalusia, Valencia, Balearic Islands and Catalonia, a “greater understanding and tuning with the common objectives has been reached between all partiesâ€. He added, “all reached agreements must be approved by majority votesâ€.
Another issue is the possibility of a new agreement on the sale of tuna bait, which could be reached by next year between the ASETUN and the tuna fattening for the tuna feeding, which is abundant in this region.
The previous agreement on the buying of bait by the tuna farms, which was signed in July 2004, was supposed to last for one year. However the Association of Tuna Producers (ASETUN) from Murcia breached this agreement by trying to buy bait at a price level below the agreed rate of 36-euro cents per kilo. This occurred when a large bank of mackerel appeared in Murcian waters, enabling plenty catch of this species, which has hardly any commercial value for its sales in fish markets nor for the canning industry.
The General Director of Fisheries made a balance of the sector’s current situation in this region and affirmed that it’s suffering a worldwide crisis “marked by the continuous catch reduction and decreasing number of fishing fleetâ€.