The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende, has agreed with the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, to "open joint lines of work and channels of dialogue, seeking consensus, in order to respond to the concerns expressed by the Cabildo of Lanzarote itself and various island institutions, after the approval of the Detailed Planning of the Aquaculture Interest Zone LZ-2" which would allow the installation of marine cages off the coast of Arrecife, San Bartolomé and Tías, from La Bufona to Puerto del Carmen.
This detailed planning was approved in March and has been published this month in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, but Vanoostende recalls that it arises from the Regional Plan for the Management of Aquaculture in the Canary Islands (PROAC), which began its processing in 2007 and "after a long procedure", was finally approved in 2018, by the Government of the Canary Islands then presided over by Fernando Clavijo, of Coalición Canaria.
"In that Plan, in agreement with all the island councils, the Aquaculture Interest Zones that are now being planned in detail were determined", explained the councillor, who recalled that "in addition to the initial participation, several periods of public hearing were enabled in which allegations could be made".
The councillor has shown her "firm will to respond to the concerns raised by the president of the Cabildo", while "rejecting" the statements made by some representatives of Coalición Canaria: “The definition of the aquaculture interest zones is the result of the government of Fernando Clavijo, at the time when Pedro San Ginés and Oswaldo Betancort were presidents of the Cabildo and mayor of Teguise. The Ministry has limited itself to developing the planning contained in an instrument that we inherited without any island administration opposing it,” she stresses.
For her part, the president of the Cabildo has expressed her "satisfaction with the councillor's willingness to respond to the concerns" of the Cabildo and has criticised "the lack of rigour of those who try to unload the responsibility for this decision on the current Government, hiding their inability to defend the interests of Lanzarote".
