The suspension of sardine fishing for 15 years, suggested by an opinion from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), "is unthinkable" and would mark "the end of the Portuguese siege fishing, the canning and freezing industry". considers Miguel Cardoso, president of Olhãopesca – Association of Fisheries Producers of the Algarve.
The content of the ICES opinion, which advises the European Commission on fish catch quotas, published by Jornal de Negócios, suggests that it will take 15 years without capture to return to the appropriate minimum limits of stock of sardines.
Miguel Cardoso, speaking to the Sul Informação, considers that this document, which is not binding, “does not take into account climate change, the work that has been done by the sector in the last three or four years, social issues and economic issues. If implemented, this remote hypothesis would call into question the entire national siege fleet, it would call into question the fishing of the canning and freezing industries. This is unthinkable and we do not even consider this possibility».
“It is an opinion that presents nuances of extreme and radical environmentalism”, he adds.
About the current status of stock of sardines, Miguel Cardoso assumes «a problem, but so much so that we have taken it on, that we have been working to favor the resource with ecological barriers, capture limits, and the results are showing».
The official says that «the signs are positive and we are already starting to see petinga in the Algarve, which we haven't seen for many years, we also see medium sardines. Therefore, this work must continue. We cannot die from the cure», he concludes.
José Apolinário, Secretary of State for Fisheries, reacted to the opinion in statements to Jornal de Negócios where he assured that «Portugal follows a precautionary policy in line with the international criteria defined by the ICES».
The government official also clarified that the document does not have updated information regarding the central and northern areas of the country, which should only arrive in the coming months.
For Apolinario, the reduction of stock "It is a direct consequence of climate change as there has been no increase in fishing effort," he told the same newspaper.
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