Spain E1 (North) Socio-economic Profile


1 Spain : E1
1.1 Overview

The area defined as the Spain E1 region incorporates the coastal regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country. Within the E1 area there are over 10,000 fishing vessels, encompassing  a wide range of different fleet segments.  These include the inshore fleet  (bajura), the deep sea fleet (altura), the cod-fishing fleet  (bacaladera), the trawler- freezing fleet (arrastrero -congleado) and the tuna fleet (atunera). The greatest number of vessels in the E1 fleet is made up of the inshore vessels ( 9,204 vessels 92%).  Of the total 9,999 vessels,  the greatest majority are based in Galicia (8,761 or 88%), the remainder are based in Asturias (540 vessels), the Basque country (463 vessels) and in Cantabria (235 vessels). In Galicia 93 % of the vessels are categorised in the inshore segment,  however in the Basque fleet  there are proportionally more deep sea vessels ( 119, 26% of the Basque fleet).  

Since 1991, the total number of vessels has fallen from 11,249 vessels, to 9,999 vessels an 11% decrease.  The greatest regional decrease was 48% in the Basque country fleet. The inshore segment is comprised of a wide range of vessel types and within the Galcian inshore fleet total there are 1,061 aquaculture auxiliary vessels and 1,257  mussel rafts are included. In 1996, the value added of extractive fishing in the E1 region  totaled 627,499,442 ECU.  

By volume horse mackerel landings were the greatest, whilst in terms of value, hake and small hake were the most important.  In the Basque country  the picture is slightly different; anchovy, tuna and bonito are the most important both in terms of value and tonnage. Shellfish landings in Galicia were worth a further 33,155,099 ECU.

Traditionally the fish processing sector has been based on fish canning.  Nowadays, however  the production of frozen fish products is a major activity. Within the last few years the processing industry has undergone considerable restructuring resulting in fewer but more cost efficient companies.  Again the region of Galicia predominates, processing 90% of the E1 fish by volume and  82% of the fish by value.

1.2 Coastal Fishing Employment

There are 34,349 fishers in the E1 area and a further 4,448 on shore personnel bringing the total employed in marine fishing to 38,797 people. By far the largest number of these fishers are located in the NUTS 3 region of Pontevedra, Galicia where there are a total of 17,072 fishers.  The region of Galicia has a total of 25,710 fishers  (75% of the E1 total).   Employment in the Basque country totals 4,766 fishers with a further 675 employed on shore.  Within the Basque country there are 2,661 fishers in the NUTS 3 region of Bizkaia .
Collection and culture of shellfish also generated a large number of persons employed in the E1 area. In Galicia,  9,000 licences were issued for collection of shellfish.  A large number of the persons with these licences are considered likely to collect shellfish on a part time basis. The gender split of the fishers is 98% men, 2%  women.

1.3 Processing Employment

The total number of people employed by the processing sector in E1 is 13,123. The processing industry is largely centred around Galicia where there are 8,300  (63 % of E1 area)  people employed (contributing 67% of production by value added).  Cantabria and the Basque country employ 1,771 and 1,527 people respectively,  whilst there are a further 1,401 persons employed inland,  mostly around Madrid (819). The coastal region of Asturias only has 124 processing persons employed and 10 processing establishments.

1.4 Marine Aquaculture Employment

In terms of numbers of employed the region of Galicia  predominates again with 13,420 of the E1 total of 13,570 persons employed.  The other regions have little by comparison,  there are some 93 persons employed in Asturias,  16 in Cantabria and 37 in the Basque country. In Galicia, mussel production is the most important segment with  8,500 permanent persons employed and 1,500 temporary persons employed  

1.5 Inland Fishing and Inland Aquaculture

In the Spain E1 area inland fishing and inland aquaculture are classed as the same, the consultants considered that Inland fishing activities are limited to aquaculture exploitation , capture fisheries being non-existent (except for recreational purposes). Within this classification there are just over 300 persons employed distributed evenly across  the whole of the E1 region. The greatest production is in the  NUTS 2 region of Castilla-Léon where there are 89 people employed mostly in trout production.