Spanish Fishing Regions: Challenges and Opportunities

Spanish Fishing Regions

Fishing employs approximately 80,000 people in Spain (0.6% of the population), and another 30,000 in shellfish harvesting. Employment in this sector has decreased due to fleet reduction, ship modernization, and work mechanization. However, it still significantly impacts shipyards, canning factories, fishing equipment manufacturers, ice plants, and transportation.

Challenges in Spanish Fisheries

National fish stocks are limited because the continental shelf off the Spanish coast is very small. Overfishing, driven by rising demand, has depleted fishing grounds. The artisanal fleet, consisting of small inshore (coastal) fishing boats, operates in these waters.

In open water, the overwhelming bulk of fish landed comes from other countries' fishing grounds. These fishing grounds are in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Large ships operate there, remaining at sea for days or weeks (high seas fishing), or even months (deep-sea fishing).

The species with the highest catches are sardines, tuna, bonito, and mackerel, which supply raw material for canning industries, and cephalopods.

Spanish fisheries face the following problems:

1. Depletion of national fish stocks due to massive extraction to meet increased demand.
2. Fishing restrictions in other countries' fishing grounds, which can only be addressed through international agreements.
3. Deterioration of water quality due to overexploitation and pollution from agricultural, urban, and industrial discharges (accidental or intentional) of oil.
4. Inadequate structure of the fishing fleet and poor working conditions.

Spain's Fishing Tradition

Ten of the 17 regions (23 out of 50 provinces) have a coastline. Spain has a long fishing tradition and is among the world's leading producers. It is also a country with high per capita fish consumption (third among consumer countries), leading Spain to import more fish than it exports.

Fishing Regions in Spain

Due to climate and water characteristics, Spain has the following fishing regions:

1. Cantabrian

   Includes the Basque Country, Cantabria, and Asturias. It is the second-largest fishing region by volume of fish caught and the third by economic value. The main fishing ports are Gijón, Pasajes, Bermeo, and Ondarroa. They are dedicated to deep-sea fishing.

2. Northwest

   Corresponds to Galicia and is the most important fishing region in Spain. Galicia is also the Spanish region that has most developed aquaculture (mussels). The main fishing port is Vigo. Other important ports include La Coruña, Pontevedra, and Villagarcía. They are dedicated to deep-sea fishing.

3. Suratlantica

   Corresponds to the Andalusian Atlantic coast. Its fleet operates in the Canary-Saharan bank's fishing grounds and has faced challenges in recent years due to relations between the European Union and Morocco. Huelva, Puerto de Santa María, and Cádiz are important fishing ports. They are dedicated to deep-sea fishing.

4. Surmediterranea

5. Levantine

6. Tramontana

7. Balearic

The Mediterranean regions have small, aging fishing fleets, especially in deep-sea fishing. The major fishing ports are Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Alicante, Almería, Málaga, and Palma.