Spanish fishing strike called off

Fishing unions have called off their strike action after the Spanish Government agreed to relax a new law resulting from an EU directive.

Around 100 workers in Lanzarote’s fishing sector protested in front of the Cabildo yesterday, joining a national strike calling for an end to proposals to report catches while at sea and notify arrivals at ports four hours in advance.  The fishing sector had claimed that these measures would prove costly and difficult, especially for smaller fleets operating closer to shore, as on Lanzarote. 

Later in the day it was announced that the Spanish Agriculture and Fishing Ministry had agreed to make the law more flexible, allowing catches to be reported within 24 hours, removing penalties for errors in the estimation of catches below 50 kilogrammes and removing the notice requirement for docking.