Spanish fishing effort in the NE Atlantic - ahead of the Gran Sol TAC negotiations.

 

As the UK flagged Spanish stern trawler Manuel Laura...

currently makes good safety signage...

and carries out a fire drill

after landing in Newlyn the Secretary General for Fisheries, Alicia Villauriz, met with the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) and representatives of the owners of Gran Sol vessels that operate in the waters of the Northeast Atlantic, with whom she has addressed some of the issues that most interest the fleet at the moment, mainly the preparation of the Council of Ministers of the European Union in December, in which the fishing quotas for next year will have to be decided. 

These quotas will be determined to a large extent by the negotiations that will begin shortly to set the Total Allowable Catches (TAC) of the stocks that the European Union (EU) shares with the United Kingdom, which involves species The target of this fleet are hake, monkfish and sole. After 10 months of the application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom, Villauriz has shown his satisfaction because this fleet has not seen its operations altered in terms of access to the waters of that country and has had sufficient quotas to carry out your activity. It has also expressed its confidence that the negotiations to set the TACs may be closed before the end of the year, since it is based on the experience of the first year of application of the agreement. 

Another issue discussed has been the problem of generational change and the shortage of crew. In this regard, the Secretary General has reported the forthcoming publication of the order that develops Royal Decree 36/2014, which regulates professional titles in the fishing sector,