Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Santa Cruz del Sur, Camagüey, Jan 23.- Gilberto Lugones Guerra, president of the Local Interest Fishing Port Association (PPIL, for its acronym in Spanish), previously known as the Private Commercial Fishing Federation of Santa Cruz del Sur, announced that the goal of the fishermen operating its 113 fifth-list type vessels is to increase catches of scale fish species this year.
At the end of 2025, the Southern Industrial Fishing Company (EPISUR) Algérico Lara Correa received approximately 90 tons of fish, primarily through line fishing of species such as king mackerel, sawfish, yellowtail snapper, snappers, cubera snapper, as well as rays and shad. This low catch level is attributed to the scarcity of these species appearing, caused by unfavorable weather conditions.
The official emphasized that there are regulations prohibiting the capture of grouper, jack, and black grouper, as they are toxic species that can transmit the disease known as ciguatera, which is harmful to human health. Likewise, vessels are not allowed to transport cubera snapper weighing more than 30 pounds.
In the previous year, according to Lugones Guerra, the boats Tres Hermanas and Roikin, owned by Glicerio Betancourt (Timoncito) and Eduardo Alcalá Martínez, were the most productive, extracting 900 and 850 kilograms of fish respectively.
In previous years, the PPIL coalition of Santa Cruz del Sur had managed to contribute between 278 and 290 tons to the fishing industry. Although the contract with EPISUR for 2026 has not yet been formalized to date, the crews of the fifth-list type vessels are committed to using lines precisely to increase catch levels. (Text and photo: Radio Santa Cruz)
