The Federación Andaluza de Cofradías de Pescadores (Facope) has announced this Wednesday that practically the entire fleet that works in the Bay of Cádiz remains moored in port due to the severe storm, with the only exception of the vessels based in La Línea and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
In statements to Europa Press, Facope has specified that in the province of Huelva no vessel has been able to leave to fish and that in the province of Cádiz, the ports of Conil and Rota "have not gone out; in La Línea they went out 9 out of 35 and in Sanlúcar de Barrameda 5 out of 120". Meanwhile, in the ports of Málaga, Motril and Almería "they went out as normal" despite the bad weather.
The senior captain of the Cofradía de Pescadores de Isla Cristina and president of the Federación de Cofradías de Pescadores de Huelva, Mariano García, has emphasized that "the storm is what rules and the fleet is moored, mainly because of what is expected this afternoon". Even so, he has recalled that "we had the full activity prepared for today (vessels, fish markets, trucks...) because we come from a biological stop and we cannot afford the luxury of stopping".
In this context, García has warned that "this storm is coming badly because we are right in the Christmas campaign and our shrimp is the star". He also stressed that "losing a day a week at the price that fuel is is very complicated" for the economy of the vessels.
Lastly, he has advanced that "tomorrow some brave person will go out, but until Friday the 100% of the fleet will not go out", assuming that the restrictions on fishing activity will be extended for several more days due to the weather forecasts.