16.3.3 Technical Characteristics and Historical Evolution
of the Fleet
The SMR purse seine fleet underwent a continuous decrease from 251 boats in 1973
to 61 in 2017 (i.e., a 76% reduction) (Fig. 16.7). This decrease accelerated from 1986
onward but has slowed down in recent years. At present, this fleet comprises small
boats: 70% are less than 30 GT (i.e., average23.0 GT and158 HP). Only 9% of the
fleet is less than 12 m long. Of these, only two of the boats are less than 9 m long, and
these boats will continue fishing until they are decommissioned (Table 16.1).
Figure 16.8 shows the reduction in the size of the fleet after the implementation of
legislation governing the minimum size of boats. However, larger boats disappeared
due to the collapse of anchovy fishing grounds off North Africa, which is where the
Spanish fleet used to work under fishing agreements with Morocco. Another reason
for this disappearance is the fall in anchovy catches in the Gulf of León, the mouth of
0
5
10
15
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Landings (%)
Sardine
0
5
10
15
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Landings (%)
Anchovy
Fig. 16.6 Seasonality of sardine (left) and anchovy (right) catches in the SMR. Averages
(2009–2017)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1973 1980 1984
2001 2005 2009 2013 2017
Total GT
Units
Units
Total GT
Fig. 16.7 Number of boats and overall change in GT of the SMR purse seine fleet (1973–1986,
1998, 2000–2017)
566
A. Giráldez