The Junta of Andalusia has emphasized that in 2026 it will intensify its support for the fishing and aquaculture sector with more than 29 million euros in aid aimed at sustaining its activity, boosting its competitiveness, and favoring its sustainability. At the same time, it has announced that "it is already working" on the planning of the calls planned for 2027.
The counselor of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has detailed these lines of support in a new session of the Fishing and Aquaculture Interlocution Table of Andalusia, held in Seville with representatives of extractive fishing, aquaculture, and the transforming industry, according to the Andalusian Executive in a note.
The meeting has also allowed for the collection of the main demands of the sector ahead of the meeting that Fernández-Pacheco will hold this Thursday, September 3, in Brussels with the European Commissioner for Fishing and Oceans, Costas Kadis.
The calls financed by the European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund (Fempa), already active or planned for this fiscal year, total an amount of 29.15 million euros. These aids include specific lines for marketing and transformation, temporary stoppages, Local Action Groups for Fishing and Aquaculture (Galpa), producer organizations, aquaculture, and sustainable fishing.
In this context, the counselor has emphasized that from the Andalusian Executive "we are fulfilling the programming and delivering resources to the sector." In addition, he has reiterated that "we want no available resource for Andalusian fishing and aquaculture to go unused."
"Permanent dialogue" and defense in Brussels
The head of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development has highlighted that this first meeting of the Interlocution Table of the new legislature responds to the Junta's purpose of continuing to work from "dialogue, closeness, and permanent interlocution" with professionals in fishing and aquaculture.
In this regard, he has assured that "we want to listen to the sector, know firsthand its concerns, and involve it in the decisions we make and, especially, in the positions that Andalusia defends wherever a large part of the future of our fishing and our aquaculture is decided."
The meeting of the Table acquires special relevance as it takes place just two days before the meeting that the Andalusian representative will hold, on September 3 in Brussels, with the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, along with the councilors from Murcia, Comunidad Valenciana, Balearic Islands, and Catalonia.
With a view to this meeting, the councilor has insisted that "we want to tell the sector firsthand what we are going to defend, but above all, we want to listen to them before that meeting and also bring their demands, which are ours, to Brussels." In this way, Fernández-Pacheco has emphasized that Andalusia intends to attend this European forum "hand in hand with the professionals of the sector."
In this line, the councilor has announced that Andalusia will present a "clear position" before the European Commission: "sharing environmental objectives must be compatible with ensuring the economic and social sustainability of fishing activity."
"We are going to defend stability for our fleet in 2027, more proportionate decisions adapted to the reality of the Mediterranean, and specific and sufficient European funding to guarantee the future of fishing and aquaculture," he concluded.