Formentera fishers pay €1,150 to fill boat tanks

Fishing boats on Formentera now cost €1,150 to fill with fuel, according to the island’s fishers’ guild. The sector raised the mounting bill and the pressure from leisure boats with Senator for Eivissa and Formentera Neus Massanet on 25 September. It says professional crews are being pushed away from traditional fishing grounds along the coast.

The Cofradía de Pescadores de Formentera, the local fishers’ guild, says the island has a capacity limit and cannot keep growing indefinitely. It says leisure craft occupying the shoreline force crews to work farther from the areas where they have traditionally fished, adding both costs and risks.

Fuel bill more than doubles

Fishers say filling a boat’s tank cost €450 three years ago. That has risen to €1,150, with about 15 boats currently operating on Formentera.

The guild also welcomed a new rule requiring people who operate leisure boats to hold a qualification. It named overcrowding, fuel prices and fishing policies that fail to reflect local conditions as threats to the trade.

Bigger catch draws boats from Alicante

Formentera recorded 170 tonnes of catches in 2024, 35 per cent more by weight than the previous year, the guild said. It says those figures are bringing boats from Alicante to fish around the island.

Massanet has pledged to raise the sector’s concerns in the Senate Fisheries Commission, according to Eivissa i Formentera al Senat.

Topics: Sea & coast · Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com