Thousands of people from the fishing and aquaculture industries demonstrated on Saturday in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of the Spanish autonomous region of Galicia which is also home to much of the country’s fishing industry.
The event was described as a historic day as some reports put the number of protestors at 30,000 as they demanded changes to the Popular Party’s policies and the withdrawal of the draft Aquaculture Act, while there were also calls for Regional Minister of Maritime Affairs Rosa Quintana to resign and for Xunta de Galicia president Alberto Nunez Feijoo to eat mussels and salmon.
Many organisations representing different industry sectors from across Galicia took part in the demonstration, with representatives of artisanal fishing groups calling for complete change in the current approach to distribution of quotas that leaves boats tied up, favouring a small number of operators.
There was no shortage of complaints at the demonstration, reports El Correo Gallego, with demands for greater protection of artisanal fisheries sectors, cleaner estuary waters and better protection and labelling of Galician products.
