Friday 17 April 2020

News on COVID19 and the Spanish fishing industry.

The sector obtains donations of sanitary material, but insists that the answers must come from the administrations

COVID-19: The rhythm of the markets slows down as the fleet recovers activity "day by day"

Most companies and workers in the extractive sector, markets and retailers are still active, but the pace of work has slowed . The volume of product traditionally absorbed by the Horeca channel, as well as the catering of schools and universities - all closed - finds no outlet in households, despite the increase in domestic purchases.

It is the balance of the situation today in the national market. The Crisis Committee for the fishing sector, activated by Cepesca , the National Federation of Fishermen's Associations and Fedepesca , the federation of retailers, to monitor the crisis of COVID-19 in fisheries, has updated the data from the sector in a new statement in which it points out that the activity of the fleet recovers "day by day".In the Cantabrian Sea, ships remain operational, and in the areas with the greatest moorings at the start of the state of alarm, such as the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Cádiz, the situation stabilizes. In the Canary Islands, where they operate under a different commercial regime, fishermen have agreements with marketers and go fishing on demand.

The sector insists that right now the main concern is to guarantee the safety of the crew and workers of the commercial channel.

The sector insists that right now the main concern is to guarantee the safety of the crew and workers of the commercial channel. The inshore is one of the main affected, and as the FNCP indicates, the protective material they obtain is thanks to altruism . The Murcian company Muebles Montiel is supplying washable polypropylene masks to the brotherhoods that have demanded them, and to the work of many women from different localities who are sewing them. Fishing organizations continue to demand individual protection equipment and masks from municipalities and regional and central governments.

NORMALITY IN THE HEIGHT FLEET

As for deep sea fishing, the gransolera fleet continues to operate normally. The same as the long-distance freezer fleet, including the Huelva shellfish fishermen in several African countries, who are concerned about the collapse of prices and the amount of seafood that is accumulating in freezers. The surface longline fleet , which fishes in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, also operates normally , but also with great concern about the low price of swordfish and sharks; the freezer trawler fleet , although it is also suffering from the drop in price, continues to fish normally. The Freezer Tuna Fleet, which also suffers from a drop in prices caused by the return of exports of Chinese tuna loins to the Spanish market, continues to fish. On the other hand, the sugarcane fishing fleet in Senegal continues to be stopped.

Like the inshore, the deep-sea fleet demands protection measures and adds another problem: the difficulties to carry out the crew relays persist . "The provision of screening tests is a priority," says the crisis committee.

Full story courtesy of Industrias Pesqueras .