Portugal and Spain may have 45 ships each in continental waters – Observer
The agreement on the Portuguese and Spanish fleets, approved by the Council of Ministers, this month, allows 45 ships from each of the two countries in continental waters, according to a diploma published this Monday.
According to a diploma published in Diário da República, continental waters “are the ones between 12 and 200 miles off the coast of Portugal and Spain in the Atlantic Ocean around the Iberian Peninsula”.
In this zone, the fishing opportunities for vessels of each country in waters under the jurisdiction of the other include 45 vessels, 30 of which drag and 15 siege, while for fixed gear there is no permit for any vessel.
On November 4, the Council of Ministers approved an agreement on the activity of the Portuguese and Spanish fleets to create conditions of “reciprocal access” to the waters of the two countries.
According to the statement from the Council of Ministers, released at the time, this agreement seeks to give “reciprocal access” by the fleets of each of these countries to the waters of the other “in relation to formal activities around the mouths of the Minho and Guadiana rivers and to the waters subject to Portuguese and Spanish sovereignty or jurisdiction in the Atlantic Ocean, around the Iberian Peninsula”.
The diploma released this Monday also defines that the border agreement for the Minho River is carried out within 12 miles, extending up to six miles to the north and south of this river’s border, with the exception of siege ships, “for which it maintains a fishing zone of 10 kilometers to the North and South of the said border”.
In the scope of the agreement, the limits to the fishing possibilities are not defined in what concerns the troughs, foreseeing 26 vessels in the case of artisanal and 18 for the siege.
In turn, the Guadiana river border agreement is applied within the 12 miles, extending to the 15 east and west of the border of the river Guadiana, that is, to the meridian of Torre de Aires, in Portugal, and to the meridian of Punta del Gato, Spain.
In the case of artisanal fishing, the limit is seven kilometers on each side of the border, the meridians of Redondela, in Spain, and Cacela Velha, in Portugal.
Thus, the fishing possibilities in these areas, in the case of Spain, provide for 25 licenses for trawling bivalves, seven for purse seines, two for artisanal trammel and 10 for artisanal shellfish (waist drag).
For Portugal, licenses are planned for fencing, 11 for trammel, six for gills, seven for buckets, 10 for trammel / artisan gills and two for artisanal hooks.
According to the decree, a joint commission to monitor the application of the agreement is created, which meets annually.
“The Portuguese and Spanish authorities ensure, with regard to the respective fleets, the supervision of the activity and the collaboration to ensure the provision of any requested information on the activity carried out in mutual waters, namely with regard to catches made and monitoring of the use of vessel quotas”, the document reads.
The Portuguese and Spanish authorities must collaborate in carrying out joint inspection actions to “ensure compliance with the legal norms in force” within the scope of this agreement.
Licensed vessels may use Spanish and Portuguese ports to obtain their catch, regardless of where the first sale will be made, “applying to the vessels in each case as fees corresponding to the activities carried out”.
The entry and exit of waters in the country of destination must be notified in the VMS and ERS devices, when refugees are required to do so by law.
The agreement enters into force on the day following the date of receipt, through diplomatic channels, “of the last written notification between the parties in which they mutually confirm the fulfillment of their internal legal requirements for its entry into force”.
This agreement is effective for five years and is automatically renewed for an additional period of two years or until “an agreement with the same purpose as expressly revoked” enters into force.