Brussels – The European Commission’s proposals for fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean for 2026 involve “some of the most severe cuts ever imposed” on fishers, putting “thousands of jobs at risk,” as warned on Tuesday by the European employers’ association Europêche, the ETF trade unions, and the Committee of Agricultural Organizations and Community Cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca).
In a joint statement, the European social partners in the fisheries sector voiced their “deep concern and firm opposition” to the Brussels proposal, which they assert “risks dismantling an entire sector that is already at its limit” and threatens “family livelihoods and the socioeconomic fabric of coastal communities across the region.”
The proposal suggests up to 65% fewer fishing days for trawlers in France and Spain and 64% in Italy, along with a cap of 9.6 days per vessel per year, unless compensatory measures are implemented. Additionally, it introduces “new and strict restrictions on hake longliners,” limits on deepwater shrimp catches, and further restrictive fishing schedules in critical areas.
The sector lamented that these cuts occur despite the significant sacrifices made by fishers to restore fish stocks, efforts which have been acknowledged in official reports noting “significant improvements and an increase in fish stocks in several populations.”
“Rather than consolidating this progress with balanced, predictable, and socially fair measures, the Commission is proposing a package that the sector sees as economically unsustainable,” they stated.
Moreover, they noted that even with the compensation plan suggested by the Commission to recover fishing days through additional conservation measures, the repercussions on regions such as Catalonia, the Western Mediterranean, and the Strait of Sicily “would be severe and disproportionate.”
The industry has called on the Commission and Fisheries Ministers, who will negotiate the fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean on December 11 and 12, to adopt an approach that is “balanced, realistic, and socially sustainable.”
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