Oceana, an environmental group, has welcomed the decision of Spanish government to close mackerel fishery early. The group said that the decision made by the Spanish General Secretariat of the Sea to close the mackerel fishery in the north-eastern Bay of Biscay is justified because of the “imminent exhaustion of its corresponding quota, particularly when the agreed catch quota has been ignored and significantly exceeded for the past two years”.
The decision has badly affected the seine and trawl fleets. They have been paralysed, while the small-scale fleets are not affected because they have not reached their assigned quotas. Oceana reported the public agency has calculated that 90 per cent of the quota has been exhausted and the decision to close the fishery was based on the precautionary principle.
Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana in Europe, said that these decisions are necessary in order to guarantee the sustainable exploitation of fishing resources and compliance with regulations. He also added that should accept them because they would benefit from increased abundance of stocks on the longer term. Not applying these measures would have serious consequences.
