SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cabildo de Tenerife has granted a grant of 158,000 euros to the ten fishermen’s guilds on the island to help defray their current expenses and in this way boost the activity of artisanal fishing.
The insular councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, explained that the objective is “to maintain the sanitary guarantees that the existence of a fishermen’s association and its points of first sale offers us.” “In addition, they are the initial tool against poaching, which destroys the economy and our environment,” he said.
Javier Parrilla recalled that artisanal fishing in Tenerife keeps some 200 vessels operating, in which more than 650 people work directly. “This in turn supports the restoration of proximity and part of the local fishing trade, and carries out a sustainable activity, so its importance goes far beyond what the economic indicators indicate, and we must support its commercialization,” he added.
The counselor indicated that, in the last two years, the Cabildo has launched advertising campaigns to promote the quality of the local product, “in which it has included artisanal fishing products as a key element, as was recently demonstrated at the congress. International San Sebastián Gastronomika “.
Parrilla also announced that in 2022 the consumption of artisanal fishing will be taken to educational and university centers, “where we will promote knowledge of the product and the consumption of local fish.”
Fishing activity in Tenerife is characterized by the medium size of its vessels, by the limited power of its engines and by crews made up, in most cases, by members of a family unit.
Artisanal vessels develop multipurpose capture strategies, all of them sustainable, to take advantage of the diversity of island ecosystems. The brotherhoods, for their part, advise and guide their members on the procedures that fishermen have to carry out, such as the daily management of permits, authorizations and procedures before different administrations, in addition to informing, managing and processing aid, programs and grants.
The brotherhoods are also the entities authorized to carry out the process of the first sale of the Canary Islands fishery products, a procedure that all fishery products must go through to be legal before entering the marketing chain.
On occasions, the fishermen’s associations of Tenerife, not having a fixed and regular income, have difficulties in meeting their current expenses. Specifically, to hire qualified administrative staff and cover the costs associated with that hiring.
The contribution of professional fishing to the economy of the islands is around 18,145,515 euros in value, with a fishing production of 5,007,911.81 kilos. The fishery for coastal and oceanic pelagic fish (tuna, chicharros, mackerel or sardines) stands out, representing 96.7 percent of the total catches. Fishing for demersal resources (samas, bream, bocinegros or cabrillas) account for 2.92 percent, and shellfish (mainly shrimp and octopus) 0.36 percent.
With regard to the commercialization of local fishing, the problems are common to the rest of the inshore and artisanal fleets of the European Union. The forecasts point, in fact, to a general rise in costs related to fishing effort, to the appearance of new restrictions on the size of the catches and to more intense competition as a consequence of the lower price of imports.
