The organization Ecologistas en Acción has once again given, for another year, a Black Flag to Playa Quemada for its organic contamination, a direct consequence of the fish farms located in the area, as stated in its annual report.
The company Acuicultura Piscifactorías del Atlántico, associated with the activity of Yaizatún, belonging to the Murciano Ricardo Fuentes e Hijos group, began its journey in the cultivation of sea bass and sea bream in 2011 in Playa Quemada, and has been expanding over the years along the coast of Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca, thanks to the approval of the regional aquaculture planning program of the Canary Islands (PROAC).
However, residents, town halls and fishermen's associations of Lanzarote have expressed their opposition to this program, as it is a development that is "absolutely oversized and would affect the development of tourism and fishing activity in a broad sense, and the marine ecological balances on an island declared a Biosphere Reserve", the document states.
Without going any further, the company Piscifactorías Atlántico currently has 25 cages of 25 meters in diameter and, according to the report, these "could exceed the maximum capacity allowed without the certainty of a surveillance action plan".
The Black Flags report gives two flags for each province, although it highlights that "there could be many more". In the case of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, it receives a total of four black flags, Playa Quemada for contamination, Waikiki Beach (La Goleta) for poor environmental management and Playa del Charco de la Araña (Los Silos) for both.
"There are many occasions when administrations turn a deaf ear to popular pressure and mobilization, and/or act so slowly that changes are barely noticeable", they insist from the organization.
The residents of Yaiza and the brotherhoods have been denouncing it since 2013
However, this is not an isolated situation, but the residents of the municipality of Yaiza themselves have been denouncing the contamination of the beach since 2013, alleging the change in color of the coastal waters and the presence of traces of oil and feed.
Also, in 2020 the fishermen's associations of La Tiñosa, Playa Blanca and Arrecife showed their complaints against the regulation that allows the expansion of marine cages dedicated to aquaculture.
They consider that this activity, "does not favor the conventional fishing sector and could be harmful to the coastal ecosystem", among other things, due to possible escapes or spills of sea bass, a natural predator that could affect local species, limiting their activities to a very small territorial space.
An expired concession and new cages in sight
For its part, the town hall of the municipality denounces that the concession to the company Yaizatún "expired 9 months ago and has not yet been dismantled, despite the fact that no more extensions can be granted". Therefore, they have already submitted a petition requesting the intervention of the Government of the Canary Islands to take immediate action, such as the removal of the cages and the cleaning of the seabed and the recovery of the environment.
In addition, it is a fight in which they have been immersed for years, with numerous environmental studies on the quality of the marine and coastal environment of Playa Quemada that play in their favor, demonstrating that "the organic matter of the sediment that forms the marine substrate has increased, tripling in five years". They also submitted allegations to the approval of the controversial PROAC.
Meanwhile, Acuicultura Piscifactorías del Atlántico has requested the concession of 8 new cages off the coast of Playa Blanca, a procedure that has not yet been completed and that has already received numerous legal actions to stop it, by the town hall and the brotherhood of the area.
However, the regional Executive has not ordered the elimination of the company's cages for the moment, but has accepted the company's request to move them to the coastal strip between Arrecife and the César Manrique airport.
The objective is "not to have to choose between the economy and biodiversity"
Ecologistas en Acción agrees with the Yaiza town hall and urges the Government of the Canary Islands to take action on the matter and remove the marine cages from their current location, and propose a new model of ecological aquaculture production, through the diversification of products and their safety guarantees.
In the event that they are not eliminated, they ask for "a real and greater surveillance" of aquaculture activity on the island of Lanzarote and propose a revision of the current PROAC, a project that is "outdated and oversized", for the ecological production of aquaculture animals and seaweed.
In that line, they insist that the PROAC has to apply the latest laws linked to the European Green Pact and on biodiversity of the EU, so that it does not become "a threat" to the ZEC or IBA areas. It has to be a project "where multiple areas of the coast of Lanzarote do not have to choose between economic progress and the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem", the report concludes.
