Fuerteventura Council Voices Distrust to FECAI Over Tuna Industrial Encirclement Plan

The island corporation secures FECAI’s commitment to support the fishing sector and oppose the industrial enclosure project that would threaten traditional fishing and marine biodiversity.

The Fuerteventura Island Council has brought the issue facing the Canary Islands’ fishing sector before the assembly of the Canary Islands Federation (FECAI). The concern centers on the experimental industrial enclosure plan approved by ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna). Second Vice‑President Nuria Cabrera presented the situation, which has been denounced by federations and guilds across the archipelago as a serious threat to the artisanal fleet and marine biodiversity in the Canaries.

The island corporation, already supportive of the fishing sector and its federations, succeeded in obtaining the backing of the other island councils to reject the project and demand its withdrawal by the Spanish Government. Consequently, the councils have agreed to draft a joint motion, which will be submitted to their respective plenary sessions for approval.

“The proposal endangers a traditional and sustainable fishing model, potentially causing irreversible damage to the rich biodiversity of the archipelago’s marine ecosystems,” said fishing professionals.

The plan was introduced by the General Fisheries Secretariat of the Canary Islands government without consulting local fishers or Canary institutions, despite its direct impact on fishing grounds and the local fishing economy.

Canarian fishers have raised their voices against what they consider one of the most worrying decisions in recent years for the future of the activity in the islands. The document authorizes an industrial enclosure and the installation of cages in Canarian waters—a model that clashes with artisanal Canarian fishing, which is selective, respectful, and sustainable, targeting tuna without affecting other species or harming the ecosystem.