SPAIN
A mutually beneficial arrangement will be a fitting end to a long relationship
Spain hopes Brexit deal will maintain the status quo The Spanish ďŹ sheries sector comprises a ďŹ shing eet, marine and freshwater aquaculture, an advanced processing industry, and a complex market structure. In addition, there is a well-developed ancillary industry supplying technology and services to the other constituents of the sector.
Manually dredging for shellfish in an estuary in Galicia. The work is done from a boat but also by foot. Collecting by foot used to be exclusively done by women but now many men have also joined the activity.
O
ver the last few years the economic performance of the EU fishing fleet has improved thanks to a combination of factors including lower fuel prices, higher fish prices, improved
status of some stocks and advances in technology. These developments are expected to continue in 2019 driven by higher landing prices while fuel prices and interest rates remain low, according to the 2019
edition of the Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet*, which is based primarily on data from 2017. EU fleet capacity has been declining but at a lower rate than previously amounting to some
83,000 vessels, while direct employment in the sector amounted to some 150,000 fishers. The fleet landed over 5m tonnes of seafood valued at just above EUR7.5bn. The biggest segment of the fleet in
*Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF): The 2019 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet (STECF 19-06), Carvalho, N., Keatinge, M. and Guillen Garcia, J. editor(s), EUR 28359 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019 28 XXX FVSPl TINBHB[JOF DPN