The Minister of the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino, said in Portimão that she sees no reason to ban sardine fishing next year.
Vitorino’s position is diametrically opposed to that of ICES, the fisheries advisor to the European Commission, which is pushing for a 100% ban on sardine fishing next season.
The minister said that Portugal’s sardine quota may be reduced, but there will never be an absolute ban.
During a visit to Portimão to welcome the ship that has reconnected Funchal in Madeira to the Algarve, Ana Paula Vitorinio criticised the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which wants a total ban, saying that the organisation sometimes goes rather over the top.
According to ICES’ scientific opinion, sardine fishing should be banned in 2019 in both Portugal and Spain, in view of the ever-declining stocks.
Vitorino knows better, the Government’s position is that it does not think there is a case to reduce fishing to zero, based on its own scientific information.
