June 20, 2008
The importance of Cedeira
Many of you will not remember, or were not born yet, but years ago, some of us worked hard on a document called “La Carta de Cedeira.” This text requested the banning of bottom trawling, the creation of marine reserves and support for sustainable fisheries. This would not have been significant if it weren’t for the fact that the document was signed by most of the fleets operating in the Cantabrian and Galician Atlantic.
And here we are again today, a little older. The proposal to create a marine reserve inside the Cedeira estuary has almost become a reality. Today we have a meeting with the chief captain of the Cedeira fishermen’s association, which is the driving force behind this proposal. Tomorrow, we have another meeting with veteran fishermen and Antonio Garcia Allud, a fishing anthropologist (with whom we have already worked and supported in the creation of the Lira reserve), to identify the best seabeds, film them and support the reserve.
We will keep you informed about this project’s evolution. We must say, though, that it is quite inspiring to find a place where the fishermen are actually concerned about the state of the fish stocks and, therefore, understand the importance of creating marine protected areas.