With many boats already on the high seas, heading for traditional sardine fishing grounds, the government shocked an already fragile industry by announcing an extension to the current ban that was meant to end at midnight on Tuesday.No sardines may be caught and landed until May 20th. The stated reason is, "EU quota commitments made by Spain and Portugal."
The news was announced in the government’s official gazette and has caught the industry by surprise.
José Apolinário, the State Secretary for Fisheries, said the extension is for a further three weeks, "to preserve stocks," and will continue in limited form from May 20th until July 31st.
José Apolinário, the State Secretary for Fisheries, said the extension is for a further three weeks, "to preserve stocks," and will continue in limited form from May 20th until July 31st.
The commercial fishing industry says there are no problems with sardine stocks, but there is a problem with government support payments for fishermen and trawler owners.
A further problem is that fishermen are entering traditional sardine grounds where they say, alternative saleable species are few and far between.
A 110% increase in the fish stocks estimated in December 2016 was greeted with delight by the Association of Fish Producers' Organisations but in January 2018 the Minister of the Sea warned that sardines would be subject to a Community quota if Portugal and Spain did not strictly manage catch volumes.
Scientific opinion from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), released in October last year, concluded that sardine fishing should be "banned in Portugal and Spain during 2018" due to the sharp stock reductions over the last decade, falling from 106,000 tons in 2006 to 22,000 tons in 2016.
In 2016, ICES had recommended a halt to all sardine fishing in Portuguese waters for a minimum of 15 years, in order to return sardine stocks to acceptable levels.
Scientific opinion from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), released in October last year, concluded that sardine fishing should be "banned in Portugal and Spain during 2018" due to the sharp stock reductions over the last decade, falling from 106,000 tons in 2006 to 22,000 tons in 2016.
In 2016, ICES had recommended a halt to all sardine fishing in Portuguese waters for a minimum of 15 years, in order to return sardine stocks to acceptable levels.
This was dismissed as “unthinkable” by Minister of the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino.
The March 2018 news that the fish had reproduced to acceptable levels has been dismissed and a new ban introduced that makes many skippers wonder quite why they bother.
