The island of Tenerife will have an interpretation center dedicated to artisanal fishing thanks to funding from the Island Council of Tenerife and the collaboration of Municipality of La Laguna and of Coastal Action Group (GAC)as announced by the island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla (PSOE). The island administration will contribute some 100,000 euros to this initiative, which is included in the Artisanal Fisheries Agenda for 2022within the framework of International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture“a commemoration that aims to generate a global momentum to empower these two sectors and ensure a more sustainable future.”
Parrilla explains that, within the Artisanal Fishing Agendathe Island Corporation has scheduled a large number of actions, in collaboration with institutions such as the University of La Laguna (ULL) or the Coastal Action Group. Among them, the creation of the Tenerife Artisanal Fishing Interpretation Center stands out, which will be located specifically in the coastal area of Hidalgo Point.
“The year 2022 is the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. Aware of this, we have used all the tools available to us to generate a Artisanal Fishing Agenda for this year. These actions will have an unprecedented budget from the Cabildo de Tenerife, since we will reach half a million euros. And from the Coastal Action Groupwith which we collaborate closely, there will also be a large-scale economic file, ”announces the counselor.
This program of actions on the agenda includes an investment of 15,000 euros to promote the consumption of zero kilometer fishery products and the collective brand Artisanal fishing; a market study in Tenerife and a governance plan for five brotherhoods on the island, which will cost an additional 15,000 euros, as well as a study on updating fishing regulations in the Canary Islands, both professional and sporting, for an amount of 48,578 euros.
The Island Councilor Javier Grill highlights that in this month of February the Coastal Action Group will present the new website dedicated to recreational fishing, “which will be focused on the responsible use of recreational fishing and that will contain all the regulations related to this activity”. In May, the Gastronomic Month of Artisanal Fishing will take place at the University of La Laguna, aimed at young university students; in the month of April, the Fair Seafood; In June, a conference will be organized on the challenges of fishing and the coast, and in October several training courses will be held related to the handling of forklifts or to obtain the food handler’s license for fishery products, aimed at workers in these sectors. .
It also highlights the feasibility and implementation analysis, if considered necessary and timely, of a collective brand for fishery products of Tenerife, for which 66,058 euros will be allocated; the analysis of the impact of recreational fishing in Tenerife and its regulation, with a budget of 18,000 euros; the holding of environmental education talks on the marine environment of the Canary Islands and its conservation, and the preparation of educational resources and informative materials on the artisanal fishing sector and fish consumption, with which it is intended to reach the new generations.
Among the actions planned for aquaculture, the the proposal to expand the areas of aquaculture interest for Tenerifethe impulse of the cultivation of the Arthrospira (a cyanobacteria), the study for the implantation of terrestrial culture systems with recirculation and multitrophic systems, and the study of the implantation of cultures in cages far from the coast of the island.
The location chosen for this informative space is the coastal area of Punta del Hidalgo
The head of the primary sector in Tenerife explains that the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture “It has an action plan based on seven fundamental pillars, ranging from environmental and economic sustainability to working for gender equality and resilience, values with which the Cabildo de Tenerife is firmly committed.”
Other objectives of the so-called AIPAA 2022 are to increase global awareness of the contribution of artisanal fishing and small-scale aquaculture to sustainable development; food security; The nutrition; the eradication of poverty, and the sustainable use of marine natural resources. The Cabildo of Tenerife It adds that it also “aims to promote dialogue and collaboration between small-scale artisanal fishermen, fish farmers, fish workers, governments and other key partners along the value chain, as well as further strengthening their capacity to improve the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture and enhance their social development and well-being’.
