Spanish fishermen can catch more than 1,800 tons of swordfish this year
This is the first time that the European authorities allocate quotas for the fishing opportunities for this species in Mediterranean waters.
The General Secretariat of Fisheries will distribute individual quotas per vessel, which will depend on the historical catches, the size and accredited employment. There is a total of 78 surface longline vessels that will be granted access to these catches. The Spanish authorities also reserve a 2.7% share of the total quota for possible random catches to the trawl fisheries and the small pelagic fisheries in the Mediterranean waters.
"For Spain, this stock is a priority, since it maintains the bulk of the activity of the surface longline fleet operating in the Mediterranean," the ministry announced in a statement.
Furthermore, the Spanish swordfish fleet has made "an important modernization effort in recent years, improving its selectivity and the pattern of exploitation of the swordfish stock," the ministry added.
The share of swordfish stock for the member states of EU is appointed by the European Council Regulation on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and fishing quotas for the 2017 financial year. The quotas are negotiated between the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the EU.
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