Fishing Giant – Nearly Subsidy Free
Yesterday, I was surprised that Pescanova seemed not to have got a cent in subsidies from the EU or Spain.
After all, this was one of the world’s leading fishing companies, and one famous for developing the commercialization of the distant water fishing, seems to have gone from boom to well publicised bust without hardly any taxpayers support.
Having looked at Europe’s current stock of distant water fleet vessels, many, although not all, received a small fortune of aid from EU taxpayers and mainly corporate welfare handouts for vessels construction and modernization from mainly French and Spanish taxpayers.
€3 billion debts
So, I thought that Pescanova, who are reported to have debts of around 3 billion euros, would have got a few million or so.
I was wrong. Looking at a list of Spain’s reported fishing subsidies, you can see it here, and aid to Pescanova and its subsidiaries, I could only find one subsidy:
ACUINOVA, S.L. 212 CAND00007 212 2 Variación producción por ampliación/modernización explot. existentes PROYECTO DE ADAPTACION DE NURSERY DE DORADAS A CRIADERO DE LANGOSTINOS 2008/2010 €477.182,31
It is interesting that one of the world’s largest fishing companies, with a fleet of around 100 vessels, got so little from the EU/Spanish taxpayer.