It was really happy news for the fishermen as five years long ban on anchovy finally ends on March 1. The fisherman can now come to the Cantabrian sea to capture anchovy. As soon as the spring start, there will be a campaign to check the actual state of the fisheries. It is told that the authorities have decided to allow anchovy fishing in the Cantabrian sea and in the Bay of Biscay from March 1st, 2010 onwards, as France and Spain had requested. Basque trawlers are on their way.
It is reported that nearly 150 boats from around the Cantabrian sea will be carrying out the campaign generating around 2,000 direct jobs. The boats crews won’t be able to fish more than 5,000 kg of anchovies per day. While many Basque fish brotherhoods are still immersed in the mackerel campaign, Norberto Emazabel, president of the Hondarribia’s Mareantes de San Pedro brotherhood, has said that the 1st of March “is a symbolic date because anchovies usually appear in mid-April.”
Fiver years ban force the fishermen to trust the decision taken by the EU. However, they also think that “it is necessary to be cautious. The fishing must not be free but responsible.” They are aware of the fact that, after 5 years working with imported fish, now “they must recover the market that they have lost.”
