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The Iberian sardine is captured from Galicia (north) to Cadiz (South) through Portugal (from there its famous canned sardine)
The government revokes sardine fishing authorization mixed with other species
PORTUGAL
Monday, November 18, 2019, 00:00 (GMT + 9)
The Government of Portugal decided to revoke the permission granted to fishermen a month ago to keep sardines on board - whose fishing is prohibited - caught together with other species.
(2).jpg) The fishing authority justified the measure by arguing difficulties for the control of catches.
The Secretary of State for Fisheries, José Apolinário, invoked in an order published this week the "difficulty of supervision and control" of the authorization to keep sardines mixed with other species on board, up to 1% of the total catch on board.
In addition, he explained that this authorization "was intended to safeguard specific situations in the activity of purse-seine vessels that directed anchovy fishing" and that this fishery has been closed since November 6.
(2).jpg) ► Portuguese waters (Subarea 27.9) {9, 9.a, 9.b, 9.b.1, 9.b.2}
However, when their catch is mixed with that of other species, fishermen could keep on board a percentage of sardines that do not exceed 1% of their total catches, although they could not market them.
This year, sardine fishing resumed on June 3, but with management measures and catch limits established, having been suspended since mid-September 2018.
The status of the resource is being evaluated by ICES, to define the fishing opportunities for 2020 for Portugal and Spain.
Artisanal "iberican" sardine fishing (Photo: Stockfile)
In September, the Minister of the Sea reiterated that the sardine catch quota for this year is up to 9,000 tons, and expressed caution about the possibility of an increase in catches in 2020.
For the Iberian organizations linked to sardine fishing this figure is insufficient, since they argue that the available biomass allows the fishing possibilities to be updated up to 19,000 tons at the end of this year.
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