Image: Stockfile FIS

Fleet Modernization is One of Galicia's Priority Areas

SPAIN
Thursday, July 11, 2024, 07:00 (GMT + 9)

The Minister of the Sea, Alfonso Villares, confirms that the modernization of the fleet is one of the priority axes of the Ministry that he directs. This was stated at the closing of the Innovation and Technology in Fishing conference, organized by the OPP-7 of Burela, in which the role of training as a fundamental tool for updating and developing the sector was highlighted; areas in which the use of new technologies are basic priorities to achieve them. The symposium was inaugurated by the general director of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Technological Innovation, Antonio Basanta.

Source: Stockfile FIS

In his speech, the head of Sea highlighted that work is being done on initiatives that improve hygiene, health and working conditions on board; that increase added value, the circular economy and food security; that limit the impact of fishing and reduce the effects of climate change; and that increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. And, according to Villares, the modernization of the fleet will be decisive to improve situations such as the vetoes in the waters of the European Union starting this year. The example is bottom longlining which, despite being one of the most affected arts in this sense, is, for example, one of the most respectful of the marine environment.

With the sector

Thus, in this scenario, for the regional leader, the OPP-7 is demonstrating an excellent capacity for anticipation, as proven by its experience in the work of negotiating regulations or sectoral representation, being an interlocutor before the European, national and autonomous, being part of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), the Galician Fisheries Council or the CeDePesca.

The most recent example, recalled Alfonso Villares, is the presentation of the appeal against the European Commission's veto on bottom fishing in 87 areas of community waters, and whose oral hearing was held last week, in Luxembourg, and in which The Galician Government refuted all the technical arguments alleged by the Commission and the European Parliament, since the demersal longline, intended for the capture of hake as a target species, does not meet the conditions indicated in the base Regulation, and this modality does not appear in the established classification on protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems of the high seas against the adverse effects of the use of bottom gear.

The Sea Councilor therefore congratulated the Burela Fisheries Producers Organization for the initiative and encouraged its members to continue working on the same path they have been doing since it was created in 1986, in order to contribute to the good progress of the CFP and the Common Organization of the European maritime-fisheries market. This OPP today carries out extraordinary work in promoting the exercise of a viable and sustainable activity and increasing the economic profitability of its members, avoiding and reducing unwanted catches and contributing to the traceability of fishing products and the food supply. In short, as highlighted by the head of Sea, a key group to increase the overall value of the sea-industry chain.

Source: Xunta de Galicia (Translated from the original in Spanish)

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