The decline of the fishing sector in Spain has become a pressing issue, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs and creating an opportunity for Moroccan fleets to dominate both the sea and local fish markets. This situation has underscored the asymmetrical relationship that Spain maintains with its southern neighbor. The so-called "reliable partner" of the Spanish government has successfully capitalized on the current crisis affecting the Spanish fishing industry, particularly the Mediterranean fleet, by employing prohibited fishing methods, utilizing larger mesh sizes, adhering to vague catch limits, and illegally entering Spanish territorial waters.
European regulations restrict trawlers to operating only about 130 days a year, which forces fishermen into unemployment for half the year. In stark contrast, Moroccan and Algerian vessels can fish freely, without facing the same competitive pressures. In the Comunitat Valenciana, which boasts a fleet of 201 trawlers, the regional Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Livestock, and Fisheries has raised alarms about potential reductions in fishing days starting in early 2026, warning that such measures could jeopardize an estimated 85 million euros annually and threaten around 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.
While Spain faces strict regulatory frameworks, Morocco remains unbound by European regulations despite being a member of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) since 1956. The GFCM’s recommendations, such as minimum sizes for catches and specific fishing bans, are indeed binding for Morocco. However, the most significant restrictions impacting Valencian fishermen stem from an internal EU regulation that limits fishing days based on the status of a single species, a regulation that does not apply to the Moroccan fleet, according to sources from the Generalitat.
In the ongoing competition for Mediterranean fishing grounds, 700 Moroccan and Algerian vessels operate alongside 550 Spanish vessels, but without facing the same regulatory requirements. Miguel Barrachina, the Conseller of Agriculture, Water, Livestock, and Fisheries, has expressed that "we cannot ask our fishermen to make sacrifices, as they have been doing since 2019, while our Mediterranean neighbors are competing in the same waters without the same rules. We will continue to demand regulations from Brussels that protect the resource without condemning our fleet to extinction." The socioeconomic study of the fishing sector in the Comunitat Valenciana, conducted by the International Economics Institute (IEI) at the University of Alicante, highlighted the "uncertain future" of the fishing industry in the region due to European regulations and concluded that it "needs assistance to survive."
Crises in the Alicante Fleet
The province of Alicante stands at the epicenter of this crisis, accounting for 47% of the Valencian fleet. Ports such as Santa Pola, La Vila, Dénia, Calp, Xàbia, and Altea, which once thrived, have witnessed a staggering 36.6% reduction in the number of vessels from 2006 to 2022, as reported by the study. José Antonio Díez, secretary of the Santa Pola Fishermen's Brotherhood, one of the most significant fishing organizations in the Spanish Mediterranean, has voiced concerns for years, stating that "the rules of the game are not the same for all countries that share the sea."
While acknowledging the necessity to protect marine environments, Díez criticizes the European fishing policy for focusing almost exclusively on environmental sustainability, neglecting the economic and social dimensions. He elaborates that restrictive fishing days force fishermen into mandatory unemployment, and once their unemployment benefits run out, they are compelled to seek land-based jobs. "And once you return to work on land, you never come back," he adds, as the gradual decline in the number of fishermen continues. Meanwhile, they watch helplessly as their counterparts across the Mediterranean employ prohibited fishing methods, such as drift nets or gillnets, which indiscriminately capture everything in their path.
Given that marine species are born, breed, and migrate across the sea without regard for national borders, the overexploitation of fishing areas in North Africa prevents these resources from expanding into Spanish waters, directly diminishing local catches. A report titled 'Death Curtains' by the Environmental Justice Foundation revealed that drift nets used by Moroccan vessels, which can span dozens of kilometers, remain suspended in the water column and are carried by currents toward Spanish shores. It also documented that in April 2024, Moroccan vessels were illegally fishing within Spain's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Commercial Relationship
Amid the crisis in Ceuta and the fishing sector's complaints, the EU and Morocco are set to negotiate new agreements this autumn regarding the situation of waters off the Sahrawi coasts and potential new agricultural developments in the Sahara. The last protocol of the fishing agreement between the EU and Morocco expired in July 2023 and is currently suspended following judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which annulled the agreements for including Saharan waters without the consent of its people. Among the top products imported by Spain from Morocco in 2025 are mollusks, valued at 622 million euros, according to the Annual Foreign Trade Report 2025.
Both the agricultural and fishing sectors now await a new agreement with one of their most privileged partners, uncertain whether their future will be used as a bargaining chip in other ongoing disputes between Spain and Morocco. As reported by elespanol.com.
