Understanding Key Concepts in Fishing, Aquaculture, and Agriculture

Fishing Areas and Maritime Boundaries

A fishing area is a place where, due to a number of circumstances, there are more marine species than anywhere else. Major fisheries are located in cold water areas and have variations. There can be both national and international fisheries.

The concept of territorial waters appeared in the 1982 Sea Convention. It was established that up to 200 miles from a country's coast, the water and its economic exploitation belonged to that country. The establishment of these 200 miles caused serious consequences for the Spanish fishing sector.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture is the set of activities, cultivation techniques, and knowledge related to aquatic plants and animals. It is an important economic activity for food production, raw materials for industrial and pharmaceutical use, and living organisms for restocking or ornamentation.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Piscifactory: A site outside of the sea used for aquaculture.
• Aridity: The relationship established in a space between heat and humidity. Aridity increases with temperature and rainfall shortages. It can be established by the Lautensach index, as the number of months with a water deficit, i.e., less than 30 mm.
• Immigration: An immigration movement implies the arrival of people to a destination.
• Sanding: Technological advances in production techniques that involve cultivating the soil covered with plastic bands.
• Net Migration: The balance between emigration and immigration. It can be positive (indicating net immigration) or negative (indicating net emigration).

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) originated in 1962 with clearly defined objectives:

• Increase agricultural production
• Ensure a fair standard of living for farmers
• Stabilize markets
• Ensure consumer supplies at reasonable prices

To achieve these goals, a set of mechanisms was implemented:

• Granting aid to improve holdings
• Market policies
• Price subsidies
• The establishment of the EAGGF

The results were:

• Increased production, leading to the problem of surplus
• Increased exports, resulting in a trade war
• Increased environmental degradation

Since then, two reforms have been filed, in 1992 and 1999, which suggest continuity in the original objectives.

European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) is a European body whose mission is the preferential distribution of calculated refunds or subsidies by the EU to compensate, for example, for the difference between community and world prices.

Additional Agricultural Terms

• Dehesa: A dominant agricultural landscape spread across Extremadura, Salamanca, and Zamora. It is a large agropastoral exploitation where logging (oak and cork oak) also occurs. Some spaces within these pastures have been converted for hunting.
• Estuary: A type of river mouth, usually in an ocean at the mouth of a river. The river falls, digging into its bed, which produces a considerable penetration or invasion of marine waters.