The City Council of Yaiza has sent a new letter to the General Directorate of Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands demanding "the immediate cessation of fish farming off the coast of Playa Quemada", since the concession - granted in its day for 20 years - ended on August 2 and was non-extendable. As he already did at the end of July, the mayor, Óscar Noda, has once again sent along with his letter "a complete summary of the studies commissioned by the municipality on the quality of the marine-coastal environment of the town and the effects on the beach. "For us, there is no room for extension and while the cages remain installed, which they are, the activity has not ended," warns the mayor.
In addition to a copy of the exploitation concession file, the Yaiza City Council, through the Department of the Environment, headed by Águeda Cedrés, has also asked the Canarian Government to "demand that the concessionaire company take immediate actions to clean the seabed and recover the environment," a request based on the negative effects that the activity continues to generate on the marine and terrestrial environment and the complaints from residents of Playa Quemada "about the bad odors and the palpable decrease in the quality of this bathing area."
"In view of the fact that the cultivation of sea bass and sea bream differs from the fattening of tunas initially approved, Yaiza has always demanded verifications to determine the real effects of the activity on the natural environment, because the activity was never subjected to the environmental impact assessment procedure," recalls the Consistory.
Óscar Noda maintains that "in this case, there has been a lack of greater solidarity with Yaiza on the part of other institutions and even environmental groups and those who carry the flag of defenders of the territory, who have not said a word, as they did not with the tower project."
"Since the Autonomous Community's ordinance on the Aquaculture Interest Zone, which allows the installation of marine cages on the coast of other municipalities, was announced last March, an insular uproar was stirred up and we were the first to support the affected municipalities and the fishing sector of the Island, making available all the detailed environmental studies commissioned by Yaiza and offering our legal experience so that the appropriate allegations could be presented, so we are very clear that it is a problem for the whole of Lanzarote and never for a specific municipality," added the mayor.
