The Spanish fleet is considering mooring its boats if diesel is not made cheaper, on the rise due to the war in Iran, a more general sentiment among the associations of the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Cadiz, although in the Cantabrian Sea there are increasingly more fishermen who individually consider whether or not to go out to fish.
This is what the leaders of the shipowners' association Cepesca and of the National Federation of Fishermen's Guilds (FNCP) have declared to Efe, after insisting on the need for urgent measures to be implemented to alleviate the cost in the fleet of fuel prices.
Both the secretary general of Cepesca, Javier Garat, and the president of the FNCP, Basilio Otero, have stated that there is no decision made about a general strike or a tie-up due to the price of fuel, but they have stressed that it pushes the profitability of the fleet to the limit.
Garat has pointed out that for weeks the associations of the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Cadiz have been talking about tying up their boats due to lack of profitability if they don't find a solution to the problem.
The head of Cepesca has pointed out that the aid promoted by the Government is insufficient and that the support scheme planned for the sector would mean that the aid would reach them in September.
For his part, the president of the FNCP, Basilio Otero, has stated that the brotherhoods are not thinking about general moorings, but as of today, each boat is thinking "a lot" each day whether or not to go fishing in this situation, because what it catches "does not compensate for what it spends".
A situation that complicates in the Cantabrian Sea, has added, due to the lack of catches of mackerel (chub mackerel or horse mackerel).
The head of the guilds has assured that the aid should be faster, "at the pump", in the form of a discount on diesel, because the Government's scheme for fishing -which is not an automatic discount on the purchase of fuel- "is useless".
The European Commissioner for Fisheries, Costas Kadis, announced this Monday that he plans to propose the activation of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) to help the sector in the face of the crisis derived from the increase in fuel prices.
The head of Cepesca has said that this activation is "essential" and that it is urgent that it be approved, so that when it is done the Government allocates the necessary funds so that the aid is not delayed until September or October.
