SPAIN
The fisheries sector in Spain
Processing industry weathers the crisis The Spanish fisheries and aquaculture sector is the EU’s biggest by a substantial margin. Whether in terms of fleet size, employment in the sector, catches, imports, farmed fish and shellfish production, or even consumption, Spain is typically among the top one or two EU nations. Spain landed 812,465 tonnes of fish in 2012, of which 766,073 tonnes (94%) were landed in domestic ports and 46,392 tonnes were landed in foreign ports. That year Spain’s fishing fleet comprised 10,116 vessels with a gross tonnage of 384,795 tonnes.
T
he fisheries sector in Spain is divided among the coastal autonomous communities bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in mainland Spain, as well as the Canary and the Balearic Islands. Of the
44
Eurofish Magazine 4 / 2014
seventeen autonomous communities twelve have a fisheries sector, however the contribution from each of the twelve to the total varies significantly. Galicia in the northwest has by far the biggest fleet and the most extensive fisheries sector
in Spain, and is home to Vigo, the fisheries port with the highest landings not only in Spain, but in Europe. Other autonomous communities with significant fleets are the Basque Country, Andalucia, Catalonia, and the Canary Islands.
In terms of the number of vessels in the fleet, Galicia has 4,739 or 48 of the total Spanish fleet while the Canary Islands has 836 or 8.5. Galicia dominates also in terms of gross tonnage (43) and engine power (34), while for the Canaries www.eurofishmagazine.com