As Chief Skipper, I want to convey—in my own words, as you’ve come to know me—the situation we’re experiencing and enduring.
It’s now a reality: it’s been five years since the Management Plan for Trawling in the European Mediterranean was implemented, and we’ve had enough!
We’ve made titanic efforts to survive, and far from things getting better, we see the situation getting more complicated. With every passing year, with every obstacle we overcome… we face new difficulties the following year. Here’s a brief summary of the measures already imposed on our trawl fishing sector as we try to get by under the poorly designed Management Plan mentioned above.
Our Barcelona Fishermen’s Guild used to have 232 days a year to fish, and now we’re down to just 143. 2021 was all about adapting. 2022 was already very difficult to manage. Just when we were starting to get used to the new regulations, trying to manage as best we could under the new fishing measures, further significant cuts were imposed on us, without even taking the sector’s proposals into account. Nor was there the slightest recognition of what the sector had achieved in terms of conserving fishing grounds and safeguarding the Mediterranean.
We were able to make it through 2023 thanks to solidarity and empathy. We had no fishing days left, and it was already a reality that our fleet in this sector would have to remain moored until next year. It was impossible to manage things better to finish out the year while complying with all the new regulations being imposed on us that year regarding the Plan. And finally, at a critical moment, we were granted permission to go out to sea—despite having used up all our fishing days—as an exceptional measure.
2024 arrived, and we found ourselves facing even more restrictions: lower quotas for shrimp and fish, as well as a further reduction in the number of days per year we were allowed to fish. Having implemented all the technical measures required of us—and some additional ones recommended by the EU on a voluntary basis—in order to set an example and try to prevent the cuts from continuing into the following year… We thought we would be rewarded for our responsibility and good work… but we ended the year as best we could, even using fishing days in advance from the following year.
And now in 2025, even though the Barcelona Fishermen’s Guild received the full support of all Catalan government agencies, city organizations, and local associations—and having done everything required of us by Brussels: changing mesh sizes, undergoing inspections, keeping the fleet idle for more than 70 days, and offsetting 52 days… the numbers still don’t add up.
It makes no sense. And it is more than obvious that something is wrong with this Management Plan, which is proving to be inadequate for fishermen, and no recent study—years after its implementation—has been conducted to demonstrate that it has improved the sustainability of coastal fishing or the Mediterranean diet. Nor does it align with other policies imposed on us by the EU regarding locally sourced products. Furthermore, there is no mention of jobs, generational succession, or a zero CO₂ footprint.
José Manuel Juarez Juarez. Chief Skipper.
