Setting the prices of cephalopods for exportation «rests exclusively with the market forces», said on Tuesday the Ministry of Fisheries, reasserting that it «does not intervene whatsoever in the price setting of octopus for exportation».
«The only intervention possibility, should this be deemed necessary, will come from the sector’s operators through inter-professional dialogue and consultation», said the Ministry in a press release sent to MAP.
«The sector’s operators have organizations for inter-professional concertation on the various aspects related to cephalopod fisheries, without any involvement of the administration», stresses the release. Under Article 12, the Cephalopod Fisheries Development Plan provides for «a structure of dialogue and consultation within the Ministry of Fisheries, for the follow up of markets and trends in octopus prices» as part of the optimal management of supply and a better command over the various economic parameters related to the exploitation of the national halieutic resources, the same source said.
Besides, the Ministry pointed out that the quotas imposed on cephalopod fisheries will not change (88,000 tons, distributed at the rate of 45,000 tons for high-sea fishing, 33,000 tons for artisanal fishing and 10,000 for coastal fishing).