Balearics suffers sharpest drop in fresh fish catches

PALMA
BETWEEN January and September 2010, 177'563 tonnes of fresh fish were admitted into Spanish ports. This volume represents a decline of 5.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2009 when 188'853 tonnes were landed, the National Port Authority reported yesterday.

According to a report by the entity under the Ministry of Development, in September alone, 21'324 tonnes of fresh fish were landed, 1.9 per cent more than the same month last year (20'919 tonnes).

The port of Vigo concentrated the largest number of landings in September with 8'920 tonnes, 12.3 per cent more than during the same month in 2009 (7'943 tonnes). Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, 62'086 tonnes were landed in this important Galician port, 1.3 per cent less than the same period in 2009 (62'902 tonnes). In second place was the port of A Coruña, with 34'102 tonnes entered between January and September, 1.4 per cent less than the same period in 2009 (34'606 tonnes), then came the Bay of Cadiz, with 14'112 tonnes. The port of Ferrol-San Cibrao registered the largest increase in landings, by 71 per cent, as it had received only 152 tonnes in the first nine months of 2009, and in the same period of 2010, 260 tonnes.

Ranked behind were the ports of Almería, with 2'822 tonnes, a 26.4 per cent increase compared to between January and September 2009 (2'232 tonnes), and Pasajes, with 13'725 tons, up 17.7 per cent over the same period last year (11'661 tonnes).

According to the latest report, the largest decrease occurred in the port of Baleares, which received only 1'168 tonnes of fresh fish in the first nine months, 46.7 per cent less than the same period in 2009, when landings totaled 2'193 tonnes. Another port where there was a significant decrease in fresh fish landings was in Ceuta, where 46 tonnes were landed, compared to the 85 tonnes unloaded between January and September 2009, ie 45.8 per cent less.