The Cabildo opened yesterday the call for aid, urgently, to the activity of tuna capture with 400,000 euros to improve their sales outside the Archipelago. He did it right on World Fishing Day (November 21). The island councilor, Javier Parrilla, recalls that the Tenerife sector depends, to a large extent, on the capture and export of tuna. “Hence the need to strengthen the figure of the marketers” he points out.
The subsidy will go towards the purchase of containers for the transport of the tuna, which will help them to reach their destination in optimal hygienic-sanitary conditions. The objectives are to improve the quality and competitiveness of the product. Parrilla assures that “the intention is to alleviate production costs to build business confidence and reduce uncertainty due to the war situation in Europe.” In short, it is about “generating trust, supporting production and improving quality”.
72 percent of the kilos unloaded at the island’s first-sale points are tuna, followed by coastal benthic fish -shallow fish-, small pelagics and shellfish. From an economic point of view, tunas account for 70 percent of the island’s fishing production. In exports, in 2021, of the total annual catches (3,933,254 kilos), 80.72 percent were sold outside the Canary Islands (3,175,132 kilos), mostly in the peninsula, Italy and France.
Those persons with registered office on the Island, who have authorization for the first sale of fishing products and have facilities for the unloading, preparation, storage and packaging of tuna caught by boats with a base port in the Canary Islands, may apply for this aid.
It is a necessary requirement that they have processed the first sale procedure, which legalizes the fishery products landed in the Canary Islands, at a minimum of 150,000 kilos of tuna in the last quarter of 2021 and the first half of 2022. Transport containers purchased between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 will be eligible. The deadline for submitting applications will be 20 business days from today.
Fishing activity in Tenerife has deep social and economic roots. It currently maintains 223 boats in operation in which 650 people work, although it also generates wealth indirectly in sectors such as fuel, dry docks, fishing gear, restaurants or tourism.
Conference in Guía de Isora
The Cabildo de Tenerife organized last Saturday, in collaboration with the Guía de Isora Town Hall, a conference to promote the consumption of kilometer zero fish products in the southern municipality. This meeting is part of the cycle of conferences to promote the consumption of local fish products. They will continue this Saturday in Buenavista del Norte (in the Plaza de Los Remedios) and later in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (in La Recova, on December 3). | JDM
