Published 11 June 2008: CFRC

Copy of email sent to ARVI, Vigo, Spain from Jim Portus, SWFPO

9 June 2008

Please, what is happening about the fishing fuel crisis in other European countries?
I hear about the Spanish strike and we now have English crabs and lobsters that cannot get to Spain and by the end of this week we will have English Megrims and Hake that cannot be sold. This is a "double-whammy" against our fishers who cannot survive the fuel price if they cannot sell the fish!
Our beam trawlers want to join a protest with French, Dutch and Belgian fishers, but where to go and what to do?  We are making the Brixham Trawler Race a protest on 21st June.  Is there a plan for the Council in Luxembourg for 23rd June? Transport takes time to plan!

10 June 2008

Dear Jim,

In Spain we do have a very complicated situation, due to the carelessness of the Fishing Administration, which until today did not want to come to the negotiating table with the fishing sector representatives in order to find a solution to the spectacular crisis that the sector is going through, because of the high prices of fuel, along with the low prices of fish auctioned in the fish market and the uncontrolled imports on the market, among other problems. On the other hand, the Minister for Fisheries does not tell the truth in the media, by saying that the doors of the Ministry are open, but we do not know for what or whom they are open.

Since there has not been a positive reply after the two demonstrations that took place (one in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, and a second one in Madrid), all the ship owners and Fishermen's Associations have taken the decision to bring all the fleet back to port, because the companies, simply, cannot meet the operating costs. All the fleet will be moored this week and from the 16^th on, the selling of fish will not be allowed on the Spanish markets. We are very sorry for any inconvenience that we may cause to other Community producers which market their products in Spain but we cannot act in a different way, Jim. Except for some pressures - not desirable- of this kind, the Administration does not want to take notice of the problems of the fishing fleet, despite the thousands of employments that generates and because it is a primary sector.

Affected? Obviously everyone marketing this product on the Spanish markets, from our fishermen to the last of the marketing companies. We have come to this undesirable situation as a consequence of the irresponsibility of the people in charge of the Spanish Administration, who have not only submitted any reasonable proposal to solve these problems, but also until now, they have refused to have any negotiation with the sector, totally contrary to what the Minister for Public Works is doing with the carriers, who are also on strike, bringing half country to a halt but she is negotiating with them. This is the difference between the stage freight from some (the carriers do bring the country to a standstill) and others (the fishermen only bring the ports to a standstill).

Our General Meetings have approved that a delegation of people concerned from the Port of Vigo (also from other ports) will move to Luxembourg to show in the street the situation of the fishing sector. I think that by means of the RACs we could ask everyone to attend this meeting to show the Council and the Commission what the real situation of the Community fishing fleet is and to claim for proposals to be adopted that may help the extractive sector to overcome the situation, at least in part.

Best regards, Hugo González, ARVI, Vigo, Spain

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