The fish activity has been reduced by half in 20 years

The Basque fisherman’s sector has been in a complicated situation for years and loses activity and employment. Food customs have changed, we are increasingly cooking at home, fish consumption has descended, this all has its consequences for the number of people dedicated to this activity.

According to data from the last EITB report, in the past two decades, so, The fleet Basque has halfGo from more than 370 ships in 2003 to the almost 187 they slipped in 2023. Consequently, there is also one Loss of 48 % in the crew; From 3568 to 1885.

The same applies to the number Traditional fish femaleThose known as ‘neighborhood fish’. Your number 42.6 % have fallen Since 2008, from 942 to 541 in 2024. The descent has continued during these two decades. In fact, in 7 out of 10 households in the state they are recognized that they buy fish in supermarkets. The percentage of fishing that is purchased in traditional fishing mongers has fallen from 20 % to 16 % in a decade.

The president of the Fish Association of Gipuzkoa, Enrique LegardaThink the key to The survival of small fishing mongers is in the specialization. Legarda is positive and ensures that, despite supermarkets, there is a market niche for these types of companies.

Returning to the fisherman’s sector, the Basque fleet is mainly devoted to the Low fish. 78 % of the ships (145) Faenan near the coast and use around 1100 crew members. The kind With those who mainly work, are the anchovies, who represents 35.5 % of what they get out; the destruction, which is 26.4 % of the landing; The north of the North (14.9 %) and La Sardina (13.4 %).

The species that fishes this type of ships are usually those who reach the lowest price at the holders, so The profitability of low fishing is lower. In fact, species such as Hake of Red Tuna are a very small presence in this type of fishing, although they are the fish that get the highest average price on the fish market: € 10.94/kg The Rode Tuna and € 5.52/kg De Hake.

The Bonito had an average price of € 4.15/kg in Lonja last year. The rest of the most frequent species in Bajura reaches lower values: € 1.50/kg anchovies, € 1.28/kg de Verdel and € 0.67/kg the Sardine.

In addition to low fishing, the Basque fleet also has 16 ships and nearly 200 crew members dedicated to the Fresh length fishingand with 26 ships and more than 650 crew members who work in the High length fish.

The three types of fish have noticed the descent, both in the number of ships and the crew.

In GipuzkoaLow fishing prevails and the ports of Getaria and Hondarribia prevail, especially for fishing the Noord -Bonito. Between the two they contribute 79 % of what is fishy because of this kind. For his part, in BizkaiaThey have more high ships than in Gipuzkoa. In this territory, the ports of Bermeo and Ondarroa stand out and the landing of species is more varied.