All change at the … Port

Puerto Naos in Arrecife is the historical hub of the island’s fishing industry, but recent events and new plans mean that the port could be changing very rapidly.

Puerto Naos has always been a hugely important part of Lanzarote. Merchants and fishermen have operated from the large bay for centuries – it was here that Sir Walter Raleigh put ashore to raid Arrecife in the century, and it was here that Gregorio Caceres, Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man of the Sea, first learnt his trade. The neighbouring barrio of Valterra has traditionally made its living from the harbour, keeping the smaller Charco de San Gines for leisure craft, and the port is still home to the Fishing School of Lanzarote – an establishment which receives students from all over Europe who wish to study navigation, fishing ,management and other courses. But now all may well become the stuff of history books.

The shrinking fleet of Canarian fishing boats received another blow in mid December when the Spanish Government ordered all vessels to leave Moroccan waters after the European Commission failed to approve an extension to the agreement that allows fishing there.

The rich banks of the Moroccan and Saharan coast have always been the preferred catchment  areas forfishermen from Lanzarote and the Canary Islands, and for centuries they have gone to sea for weeks at a time. However, when Spain withdrew from its colony of Western Sahara in 1975, and the territory was occupied by the Moroccans, new agreements were needed to ensure future fishing.

Until recently , those agreements have been granted by the European Parliament, which pays the Moroccan government for fishing rights. This year, Morocco would have received €36 million from the deal which would have seen 100 Spanish ships, among them 20 from Tenerife, 10 from Gran Canaria and six from Lanzarote, enjoying the right to fish in the area. All those ships, and the others from Andalusia and other areas, have been ordered to return to port.

The European Parliament have cancelled the arrangement on the grounds that it is too expensive, that it could be environmentally damaging and that the rights of the disputed territory of Western Sahara could be affected.

The news has been received with dismay on the islands. Gabriel Jimenez, President of the Las Palmas Federation of Fishing Unions, claims that 380 jobs may be lost in the province and that the industry will be “brought to ruin” if the agreement is not  enegotiated. If the contract is rescued, Lanzarote fishermen will be the least affected, as they specialise in tuna fishing, and the tuna season is almost over. It is the other boats that catch grouper and sea bream that will suffer for every day they remain inactive.

The Spanish Government has demanded compensation for the cancellation of the deal, but whether this will be granted remains questionable. Meanwhile Morocco has stated that it may take to fishing its own waters more heavily.

While the possible end of commercial fishing from Puerto Naos may be in sight, it would only be the culmination of a process that has reduced the island’s fishing fleet to a skeleton of its former self over the last few decades.

Many fishermen have found better money and conditions in tourist-related positions, and the overfishing of fish stocks has meant that fishermen have been bringing home ever-smaller catches for years. Imports of cheap fish such as tilapia and panga, and the rise of fish farming have also had their effect.

The result is that Puerto Naos has become increasingly inactive – the sight of a boat unloading its catch is now a rarity and only a handful of working boats are moored in the harbour. Visitors from the cruise ships that dock at the nearby Puerto de los Marmoles can now stroll along the spanking new footpath to Arrecife, but once they pass the ancient saltworks that overlook the harbour they are confronted with a generally desolate scene – a harbour lying idle, surrounded by dilapidated warehouses and buildings. The chandlers shops in the vicinity now get most of their trade from leisure sailors, and the Cofradia de Pescadores (Fisherman’s Guild) is full of older fishermen, chatting ,  drinking coffee and remembering the past.

The decline of Puerto Naos has been the spur for a brand new project which intends to rejuvenate the area, moving it way from its working past towards a new future based on leisure. Puerto Naos is already the mooring for a number of leisure boats, and local authorities clearly see this as the future.

As a result, the Puerto Calero company – responsible for creating one of the island swishest  marinas just down the coast from Puerto Del Carmen, have been awarded the contract for renovating Lanzarote’s most historical port.

The aim of the new project is to make Puerto Naos an attractive zone for new arrivals, and a lively commercial area for locals – an extension of the existing Charco area. The planners recognise that, for most visitors and locals, Arrecife starts at the Charco, and they wish to change this.

Marina Lanzarote is the name of the project, and it will provide 443 moorings of varying sizes for leisure craft and the existing fishing vessels. There will be a dry dock and all the infrastructure required for sailors using the port – from customs and administration offices to convenience stores, restaurants and bars. Chandlers and fishing shops are also planned (a number are already present in the area) , and there will also be a ‘comfort zone’, where sailors can bathe, shower and even get a tan.

For landlubbers, there will be 393 new parking places and planned exhibition areas which wll display the history and heritage of Puerto Naos . The architecture of the new facilities will be modern, yet reflect the traditional styles of Lanzarote, and, of course, will be white.

The project has been budgeted at €36 million and it is forecast that the renovations will be completed by early 2013. Aside from the much-needed employment that will be provided by the construction of the facilities, it is predicted that the new installations will provide work for 20 direct employees and create around 160 indirect posts.