An additional month-long shutdown of fishing in the Tyrrhenian Sea could cost 25-26 million euros, excluding related industries.

In fact, the ban on trawler fishing vessels along the coasts of Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia will continue in November, in accordance with the provisions of the Masaf which has foreseen an additional 30-day ban following the ordinary one in October.

A decision taken to recover the excess of authorized fishing days and avoid a total closure until the end of the year, initially proposed by the European Commission .

The estimates come from Confcooperative Fedagripesca, according to which fishing in the entire Tyrrhenian Sea is worth between 160 and 230 million euros a year.

Among the main objectives of the measure is the protection of hake, a species considered by the EU to be overexploited in the Tyrrhenian basin , among the most popular with 7 out of 8 Italians consuming it regularly, according to a Fedagripesca survey.

"The lengthy negotiations with Brussels, thanks to the intervention of Masaf, avoided unsustainable measures," Fedagripesca emphasizes, "but also forced further cuts to artisanal fishing and longlines."

Finally, an appeal is made to Brussels "to more carefully evaluate the economic and social implications of its decisions and to amend the Feampa Regulation (European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund) to include all pending scrapping applications. Immediately , we need financial support for cooperatives that manage fish markets and services for shipowners—two months without income is unsustainable—and measures dedicated to non-trawling professions, which are called upon to responsibly share the burden of sustainability."

(Unioneonline/lf)