Sea fishing falls by half in a decade and the number of boats falls below 600 for the first time

Guifré Jordan/Barcelona - Catalonia has lost half of its sea fishing volume in a decade. According to data from the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, 16,560 tonnes of fish were caught last year, a figure that reflects a downward trend since 32,016 in 2013. In 2020, activity fell by 20% compared to the previous year and, far from recovering pre-pandemic levels, catches have continued to fall since then. Fishing vessels have also progressively declined in recent years and in September 2024 they hit rock bottom at 597. A third of the Catalan fishing fleet is based in Terres de l’Ebre, and the port of La Ràpita is where the most vessels are assigned, with 95.

During the 1990s, between 40,000 and more than 60,000 tons of fish were caught each year, a quantity that stabilized at around 30,000 tons the following decade. In the last ten years the volume has continued to fall to around 16,000 tons last year.

More than half of the fishing in 2023 is of oily fish (8,852 tons), that is, species such as hake or sardine – the most popular –, while a quarter is of white fish, which includes rock fish such as hake and monkfish (4,258 tons). Both biological groups are decreasing, while crustaceans – such as crab, shrimp or galley – are maintained (1,803 tons last year). In turn, more than half of the cephalopods – that is, octopus, cuttlefish and squid, among others – that were caught a decade ago have been lost (1,280 tons in 2023).

The cut in fish caught also impacts the overall value generated, 89.2 million euros in 2023, a drop of 9.2% compared to the previous year. In 2020, turnover fell below 100 million euros for the first time since at least 1993, and this level has not been reached again. In 2022, fishing represented around 1.6% of the monetary value of the final production of the primary sector.

The decline in sea fishing is also explained by the progressive abandonment of boats. If in 2003 there were 1,358, two decades later more than half had disappeared and at the end of 2023 there were 617 active ones. The trend has been practically unstoppable in the last 20 years, and in 2024 it points to a further reduction in the fleet, since in September of this year the census has already dropped to 597.

La Ràpita, the most important fishing port

Terres de l’Ebre accounts for a third of the country’s fishing fleet, with 191 boats in five ports: La Ràpita (95), L’Ametlla de Mar (44), Deltebre (27), L’Ampolla (14) and Les Cases d’Alcanar (11). Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf) is the second largest fishing port, with 53 registered vessels, while Arenys de Mar (Maresme) is third, with 50, ahead of Palamós (Baix Empordà) and Blanes (Selva), with 45 each.

Overall, the majority of fishing vessels are small-scale (316), ahead of trawlers (198), purse seines (60) and longlines (23).

La Ràpita is also the port with the highest catches, an eighth of the Catalan total (2,167 tonnes) and a higher turnover (12.3 million euros), followed by Tarragona (1,795 tonnes) and Vilanova i la Geltrú (1,669 tonnes).