More than twenty entities have denounced the exclusion of the maritime sector in the planning of Galicia Costa waters and, for this reason, have registered allegations, as explained at a press conference in which, among other groups, the Platform in Defense of the Arousa Estuary participated.
The organizations are thus reacting to the resolution published in December of last year, which communicated the opening of the public consultation period for the provisional scheme of relevant topics regarding water management for the fourth hydrological planning cycle of the Galicia hydrographic demarcation.
In this process, the 26 groups that have filed allegations, and who presented their position this Wednesday, maintain that excluding the maritime sector constitutes a breach of the Water Framework Directive.
Regarding the base document for elaborating the future Hydrological Plan, they point out that it reflects "continuity and immobility" compared to previous plans, "hiding behind an alleged lack of data," while, they warn, "pressures and water management problems continue to grow."
They also insist that a "capital" issue for water governance in Galicia is "the inclusion of activities carried out in transitional and coastal waters: fishing, aquaculture, and shellfish farming."
As they emphasize, these activities "Must be included in the socioeconomic objectives and in the economic characterization of water uses," as they already demanded in the public consultation phase of the initial documents.
The allegations presented by different entities, including various fishermen's guilds, highlight, among other aspects, the "lack of transparency and public accessibility to environmental information," as well as the "lack of accountability."