The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands published this Wednesday in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands that the installation of 56 marine cages between the coast of La Bufona (Arrecife) and Playa del Barranquillo (Tías) will have to undergo an ordinary environmental impact assessment since "it could have significant effects on the environment."
Ecological Transition has asked the company Yaizatún SA to prepare an environmental impact study in accordance with Law 21/2013, on environmental assessment, on the harmful effects that the cultivation of gilthead seabream, sea bass and Atlantic tuna could have on the coasts of Arrecife, San Bartolomé and Tías.
However, as the simplified environmental assessment of the project has already analyzed different points, the Ministry asks the promoter of the project not to include "any pronouncement" on issues "of an urban and/or territorial nature, ongoing judicial procedures or on the ownership of the affected land."
The project: a marine farm
This project plans to produce a total of 9,000 tons of fish per year: 1,700 tons per year of gilthead seabream, 3,300 tons of sea bass and 4,000 of Atlantic tuna. To do this, it uses the method of "fattening in cages" or "floating nurseries" that would occupy up to 1,381,576 square meters, about 138.2 hectares.
Among its effects on the environment, the future marine farm is projected "partially" within the limits of the special conservation area (SAC) Sebadales de Guasimeta, where the vulnerable species sebadales (cymodocea nodosa) is found.
The special protection of this space seeks to protect the sandbanks permanently covered by shallow marine water, which is protected within the places of community importance of Macaronesia in the Natura 2000 Network, a "fundamental instrument" of European policy for the "conservation of nature."
Different reasons to reject its installation
The General Directorate of Public Health warned of the emissions to the aquatic environment of "nitrogen and phosphorus" from the excrement of the species and the waste from the feed that remains unconsumed. In its report, it stated that the proliferation of these elements "breaks the environmental balance" and can lead to the "possible appearance of toxins produced by certain types of algae," "the loss of water quality" and even "its contamination" by "discharges and feces of the fish."
The installation of marine cages in this area, according to Public Health, may affect beaches such as La Concha, El Cable, Playa Honda or Guasimeta, which until now has "an excellent annual classification" by the General Directorate of Public Health. In addition, it invites to study what is the economic impact if water quality is lost in the bathing area.
In this sense, the General Directorate of Coasts and Management of the Canarian Maritime Space, dependent on the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, states that "there are a large number of impacts with different intensities that, cumulatively, due to being significant impacts, will generate clear negative effects."
The City Council of Tías, the one of San Bartolomé and the one of Yaiza, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the fishermen's associations of La Tiñosa, San Ginés and Playa Blanca, the Association for the Development of Comprehensive Climate Actions (Adacis), the Association of Diving Centers of Lanzarote (Buco), the Insular Association of Hotel and Apartment Businessmen of Lanzarote (Asolan) and the Tourist Federation of Lanzarote (FTL) presented allegations to the environmental document promoted by Yaizatún and against the installation of these cages on the coast of the island.
To this was added the César Manrique Foundation and the Ecologists in Action collective, who asked Ecological Transition to deny authorization to install these marine cages in the area.
