This Thursday begins in Brussels the last European Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the year, a meeting that will last until Friday morning and which, as traditionally happens, will be a marathon summit. In addition to another “fear or death” for Spanish fishing. It decides on the quotas or fishing possibilities which will be in force during 2026. What will determine the fate of 8,432 ships which are part of the fishing fleet in Spain. As has happened in recent years, attention is focused on the fate of the Mediterranean, in particular on the 557 trawlers which constitute the heart of the activity of the “Mare Nostrum”. On the table is a new “blow” from the European Commission to fishing days (“fishing effort”) which would be reduced to just 9.6 per year per ship in 2026. Last year, this period was already limited to 27 days per year per ship, although, as in 2025, the days can be “recovered” if certain sustainability measures are respected.
The Secretary General of the Spanish Fishing Confederation (CEPESCA), Javier Garat, emphasizes in an interview with Economic information that “the heart of the negotiation in the Mediterranean will be precisely in what measures the European Commission (EC) and Member States can accept ». In addition, Spain, as well as France and Italy, with the support of some other countries, “maintain the blocking minority as much as possible to have greater room for negotiation.” Garat draws attention to the messages sent by Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis and the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG Mare), very similar but with an important nuance: the first speaks of equalization “at least” fishing days last year while the technical services of the Commission speak of the fishing effort reaching “at most” to what is in force during 2025. The sector deplores these days that for this reduction in fishing days, of 65% compared to this year, the technical services of Brussels are applying “to the letter” the regulations for the western Mediterranean and take as a reference the species in the worst conditions: Langoustine, which represents barely 0.4% of catches in the Valencian Community and 2.6% in Catalonia.
“The heart of the negotiations in the Mediterranean will be precisely to know what measures the European Commission (EC) and the Member States will be able to accept”, Javier Garat (CEPESCA)
New sustainability measures?
Among the new sustainability measures considered to recover the working days of the fleet, the representative of fishing employers sees “unsustainable” which would prohibit fishing red shrimp at a depth greater than 600 meters. If, according to the sources consulted, the community proposal reflects the provisions adopted last year such as the installation of “flying doors” minimize the impact of nets on the seabed and the changing of net meshes. For the Secretary General of CEPESCA, what is now up to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, is “Fight him hard and for the Fisheries Commissioner to take into account the implications of these proposals, since he had promised the recognition of fishing: I hope he will keep his promises.
Objective: more days of fishing and review the regulations
From Agriculture, they point out that its owner attends this summit with the objective of increasing fishing quotas and fishing days for the entire Spanish fleet. To achieve this, assures the ministry, it will promote the efforts of Mediterranean fishermen to improve the selectivity of their boats and, in collaboration with France And Italy They will propose to review the regulations which regulate the western Mediterranean and which have already reduced the fleet’s fishing days by more than 40% since 2020. A rule which, they argue in Madrid, “does not adequately reflect the reality of mixed fisheries (shared with other non-EU coastal countries), in which more than 100 species are fished, of which only 6 are regulated.
Cuts off navigation across the Atlantic
Spanish fishing also has several open fronts in the Atlantic. The European Commission (EC) has proposed significant reductions in fishing quotas for species as important as crayfish (40%), haddock (26%), mackerel (70%) and the blue whiting (41%). Concerning the first, Garat (Cepesca) recognizes that it represents “a hard blow” for the fleet since catches would be reduced to only 15 tonnes compared to more than 37 tonnes currently. In this sense, he regrets that “the study of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), in which the Organization of Fish Producers (OPP 80) Punta del Moral de Ayamonte (Huelva) collaborates, on the crayfish status didn’t arrive in time.”
But the biggest reductions are proposed for species like mackerel, up to 70%, and blue whiting, 41%. The general secretary of Cepesca recognizes that we are facing “a big stick” although he admits that “it is not easy because, in these cases, everything depends on the way in which the negotiations with coastal states like Norway, Faroe Islands, United Kingdom…which is managed by the European Commission.” These are species managed jointly between the Community bloc and third countries.
Spain’s fishing fleet, made up of 88 vessels (plus a further 55 vessels from the nation’s capital), catches an average of 9,000 tonnes of fish per year, worth €27 million, in UK waters.
A geopolitical “sudoku”
In this case, Spain has lower quotas than other European partners. Concerning the British fishing zones, where the “Gran Sol” fleet fishes, the Spanish vessels catch an annual average of 9,000 tonnes of fish in English waters, which represents a value of 27 million euros. If we include its activity in the waters of the northwest Atlantic and those of other EU countries, the 29,000 tonnes estimated at 121 million.
These vessels, numbering approximately 88 plus 55 other Spanish capital vessels, generate more than 10,000 jobs and employ approximately 2,150 crew members. The president of the European fishing association Europêche also emphasizes that “negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU have just concluded. Garat predicts that the agreement between Brussels and London for next year foresees “slight decreases in monkfish and northern hake, although catches of rooster and Cantabrian langoustine increase, the latter by around 23%”.
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