The Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, warned this Wednesday that the dumping of plastic pellets on the coasts of Galicia “threatens the environment and economic activities such as fishing”, while being “anxious” for Discuss how to “help better.”
“We are eager to discuss how we can best help,” emphasized the Lithuanian commissioner in a message he published on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The head of the Environment of the Community Executive also pointed out that “EU rules on the dumping of pellets and international action are key to fighting plastic pollution in the future.”
“The 25 tons of plastic pellets that have spilled on the Galician coast threaten the marine environment and economic activities such as fishing,” warned the commissioner, also responsible for the Oceans and Fisheries portfolios.
This Monday, a spokesperson for the European Commission highlighted that the national authorities are responsible for immediately managing plastic pellet spills such as the one that occurred in Spain, while Brussels works in the medium and long term to reduce microplastic pollution.
Last October, the Community Executive proposed a regulation to limit discharges and reduce microplastic pollution, which still needs to be negotiated by the EU Council and the European Parliament. The initiative is part of the Zero Pollution Action Plan adopted in 2021 by the Commission, which aims to reduce the amount of microplastics released into the environment by 30%.
The Community Executive argued its proposal based on the fact that microplastics do not degrade once released into the environment and “accumulate in animals, including fish and shellfish, and, consequently, humans also consume them in food.”
The president of the Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds of Cantabria, César Nates, has shown his “concern” about the arrival of pellets to the Cantabrian coast and about the possible consequences when the mackerel emerges or the coastal fishing of the anchovy In statements to EFE, Nates explained that in these first days of the year fishing activity in the region is “minimal” due to the seasonal stop.
The fixed gear vessels have moored after completing the Christmas campaign, while the skippers of the purse seine vessels take advantage of these weeks of training to expand their professional capabilities.
“We don’t know how long microplastics will be present and if it will affect the main campaigns,” said Nates, who stressed that “if we don’t like there being plastic in the sea, much less millions of pellets.”
It also calls for more information or recommendations from experts, although it points out that the Government of Cantabria has communicated to the fleet the elevation of the protection level to ask the Central Executive to intervene on the high seas and prevent the massive arrival of pellets to the coast of the autonomous community.
“We have been asked to notify us if we detect any bags of pellets or plastics in the caught fish,” added the president of the Cantabrian fishermen.
