The Diplomat
The Andalusian Regional Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo, yesterday called on the current Government to provide greater protection and defence for Spanish vessels in the face of Gibraltar.
After the episodes of harassment of Spanish fishermen in the waters surrounding the Rock, Crespo said that “the Spanish Government cannot use the fact that it is in office as an excuse for not providing aid and defending our fishing boats in the face of a conflict with Gibraltar that exacerbates the situation suffered by fishermen in the area as a result of the incidence of Asian algae, the shortage of fish or the dumping of fuel oil”.
The minister reminded Gibraltar of Spain’s jurisdiction over the waters in which the Royal Gibraltar Police have been harassing fishermen from La Línea de la Concepción in recent days, and called for an end to this harassment.
Crespo called for respect for the fishermen, stressing that “they are not breaking any legislation and have their licence to fish in these waters, which are under Spanish jurisdiction”.
The Councillor recalled that “it is a very small number of boats that normally fish in this specific area, using small gear, with very small boats that do not cause any damage”.
She also stressed that “the Spanish vessels undergo all the relevant catch controls when they return to port, and we know at all times exactly where they are”.
For his part, the manager of the Organisation of Artisanal Fishing Producers of the ports of Conil and La Atunara (OPP72), Nicolás Fernández, publicly denounced a new “approach” by the Gibraltarian patrol boats of Spanish fishing vessels that were fishing in the vicinity of the colony yesterday.
For this reason, he demanded that the Spanish and Gibraltarian governments sit down to establish the limits of the waters in which national vessels can fish.
“In the name of the fishing sector, we are not going to stop, and the government should know clearly that we are not going to stop until the waters and how far fishermen can go are settled,” Fernández told Europa Press.
Fernández recalled that the fishermen of La Línea have been fishing in these waters “all their lives” and that for a few years now the Gibraltarian Government has been putting obstacles in the way of fishing in this area with the argument that it would be British territorial waters, even harassing the Spanish boats that fish there.
The fishermen’s representative said that these episodes of “harassment” have come about as a result of the incident on the 14th between a Customs Surveillance Service patrol boat and a British-flagged vessel. “They have become angry and the way to show it is by harassing the fishermen,” he said.
“We are not going to stop fighting, we are going to continue to make it clear that this is an abuse by the Gibraltar authorities,” said Fernández, who warned that “either they sit down and take action, or they will have to put in security forces and the army so that the fishermen can fish”.
All this comes after yesterday the fishing boat ‘Mi Daniela’ again denounced that the Gibraltar authorities approached their vessel to prevent them from crossing the limits set by the rock.
“We have come to play the fool”, lamented Jonathan Sánchez, skipper of the boat in a video, in which he highlights the scarce fishing in a fishing ground off La Línea, close to the area in conflict with Gibraltar, and which “is not productive”.
The 33-year-old Spanish fisherman has been reported by officers of the Maritime Section of the Royal Gibraltar Police for allegedly committing several offences.
The mayor of Algeciras and PP senator for Cadiz, José Ignacio Landaluce, has already called on Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, to “stop pressuring and harassing” Spanish vessels and to respect international law.
