Critical summit for Spanish fishing that tries to avoid another ‘snip’ from Brussels in the Mediterranean

This Thursday begins in Brussels the last European Council of Agriculture and Fisheries of the year, a meeting that will last until early Friday morning, and which as traditionally happens will be a marathon summit. In addition to another ‘scare or death’ for Spanish fishing. It decides the quotas or fishing possibilities that will be in force during 2026. What will determine the fate of the 8,432 vessels that are part of the fishing fleet in Spain. As has been happening in recent years, attention is focused on the fate of the Mediterranean, specifically on the 557 trawlers that are the heart of the activity in the ‘Mare Nostrum’. On the table is a new ‘snip’ from the European Commission to fishing days (‘fishing effort’) that would be reduced to just 9.6 annually per vessel during 2026. Last year it was already limited to 27 days per year per ship, although as in 2025 days can be ‘recovered’ if certain sustainability measures are met.

The general secretary of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), Javier Garat, points out in conversation with Economic Information that “the core of the negotiation in the Mediterranean will be precisely in what measures the European Commission (EC) and member states can accept”. In addition, Spain, together with France and Italy, with the support of some other countries, “maintain the blocking minority as much as possible to have a greater margin for negotiation.” Garat draws attention to the messages that are sent from Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis and the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG Mare), very similar but with an important nuance: the first talks about equalizing “at least” last year’s fishing days while the Commission’s technical services talk about the fishing effort reaching “at most” to what is in force during 2025. The sector has been lamenting these days that for this cut in fishing days, of 65% compared to this year, the technical services of Brussels apply “to the letter” the regulation for the Western Mediterranean and take as reference the species in worst condition: Norway lobster, which barely accounts for 0.4% of the catches in the Valencian Community and 2.6% in Catalonia.

“The core of the negotiation in the Mediterranean will be precisely what measures the European Commission (EC) and the member states can accept”, Javier Garat (CEPESCA)

New sustainability measures?

Among the new sustainability measures that are being considered, to recover work days for the fleet, the representative of the fishing employers sees “non-viable” which would prohibit fishing red shrimp at a depth greater than 600 meters. While, according to sources consulted, the community proposal reflects provisions adopted last year such as the installation of ‘flying doors’ to minimize the impact of the nets on the sea floor and the change in the meshes of the nets. For the general secretary of CEPESCA, what is now up to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, is “fight it to the fullest and to the Fisheries Commissioner to take into account the implications of these proposals, since he had promised recognition of fishing: I hope he keeps his promises.

Objective: more days of fishing and review the regulations

From Agriculture they highlight that its owner attends this summit with the goal of increasing fishing quotas and fishing days for the entire Spanish fleet. To achieve this, the Ministry assures, it will value the efforts of Mediterranean fishermen to improve the selectivity of their boats and, together with France and Italy They will propose that the regulation that regulates the Western Mediterranean be reviewed and that has already reduced the fleet’s fishing days by more than 40% since 2020. A rule that, they argue in Madrid, “does not adequately reflect the reality of mixed fisheries (shared with other non-EU coastal countries), in which more than 100 species are fished, with only 6 being regulated.

Cuts sail across the Atlantic

Spanish fishing also has several open fronts in the Atlantic. The European Commission (EC) has proposed important cuts in fishing quotas for species as important as the crayfish (40%), haddock (26%), mackerel (70%) and the blue whiting (41%). Regarding the first, Garat (Cepesca) recognizes that it represents “a blow” for the fleet since the catches would be reduced to just 15 tons from the current more than 37 tons. In this sense, he regrets that “the study by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), in which the Fish Producers Organization (OPP 80) Punta del Moral de Ayamonte (Huelva) collaborates, on the crayfish status didn’t arrive on time.”

But the big cuts are proposed for species such as mackerel, up to 70% and blue whiting, 41%. The general secretary of Cepesca recognizes that we are facing “a big stick” although he admits that “it is not easy because, in these cases, because everything depends on how negotiations with coastal states like Norway, Faroe Islands, United Kingdom…which is managed by the European Commission.” These are species that are managed jointly between the community bloc and third countries.

The Spanish fishing fleet made up of 88 vessels (plus another 55 national capital vessels) captures an average of 9,000 tons of fish per year, with a value of 27 million euros, in British waters.

A geopolitical ‘sudoku’

In this case, Spain has lower quotas than other European partners. Regarding the British fishing grounds, where the ‘Gran Sol’ fleet fishes, the Spanish ships capture an annual average of 9,000 tons of fish in English waters, which represents a value of 27 million euros. If its activity in waters in the northwest of the Atlantic and in those of other EU countries is included, the 29,000 tons estimated at 121 million.

These vessels, about 88 to which another 55 vessels of Spanish capital can be added, generate more than 10,000 jobs and employ about 2,150 crew members. The head of the European fishing association Europêche also points out that “negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU have just been concluded. Garat anticipates that the agreement between Brussels and London for next year includes “slight decreases in monkfish and northern hake although catches for rooster and Cantabrian Norway lobster increase, the latter around 23%.”