Apr 29 - GSD Questions Government Management Of Fishing Dispute
The GSD has renewed its call for the Government to explain whether Spanish Fishermen will have to apply for a licence in Gibraltar in order to fish in BGTW.
The Opposition says it has been pressing the Government to clarify its position on this issue since November of last year. The GSD argues that, in the January session of Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition asked the Chief Minister this very question and Mr Picardo “refused to answer it.” In the meantime, says the Opposition, one of the leaders of the Cofradia of La Linea has told the Spanish media that “things were back to what they were before Mr. Picardo became Chief Minister.” The party claims that anyone can see that there are more Spanish Fishermen fishing in our waters today than ever before.
Leader of the Opposition, Daniel Feetham said: “The public are entitled to know what the Government’s intentions are. It is now two years since the Government did away with the 1999 Agreement amidst cries from its supporters of “aqui no se pesca”. In the meantime, the Government commissioned a Fishing Report to guide its policy in relation to fishing in BGTW. That report did not recommend any changes to the law. On the contrary, it recommended no changes to the Nature Protection Act as far as fishing with nets was concerned. Despite that, the Government introduced amendments to the Nature Protection Act, to allow regulations to be introduced in order to permit fishing with EU Compliant nets. Six months later, Mr Picardo still refuses to state publicly whether members of the La Linea and Algeciras Cofradias will have to apply for a licence in Gibraltar or whether they will be allowed to fish by virtue of their existing membership of those Cofradias. It is about time the Government explained to the people of Gibraltar what it intends to do, so that we can assess for ourselves what Mr. Picardo has achieved other than damaging the political and economic stability and security of this community”.
