The ban on fishing for sardines ended today, Monday, and the perspective is that, in the coming months, there will be «sardines in abundance and with high levels of fat». After a closed period that began in January and lasted longer than initially planned, the representatives of the Algarve shipowners are convinced that the stoppage helped to replenish the sardine population and that, until 31 July, this resource will not miss.
Mário Galhardo, president of Barlapescas, who has been accompanying the research boat of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere, has no doubts: «there are a lot of sardines and they are very fat».
The Algarve shipowner entered the ship “Norway” in Sines and has been following the monitoring that is being carried out. «Today [May 21st], we had five releases and four sardines came out. You see a lot of sardines in the sea, much more than you saw a year ago," he assured the Sul Informação, the president of Barlapescas.
Miguel Cardoso, president of Olhãopesca, recalled that this year "there was a slight reduction in the quota", which is why the Government and shipowners have "decided to postpone the start of the harvest", which was initially scheduled for April 30, but which has just begun today, May 21st.
"The vast majority of catches are intended for fresh consumption, so the associations decided to start the campaign later," he told the Sul Informação Michael Cardoso.
From this time of year onwards, «the sardines already have desirable levels of fat for consumption», which will also benefit those who appreciate this fish.
In 2018, a daily catch limit is being imposed, as well as measures to protect juveniles and monitor the fishery. In the next two months and (almost) a half, 4855 tons of sardines may be captured in Portuguese waters.
In the case of the Algarve, boats over 17 meters can fish 3750 kilos of sardines per day. Vessels between 12 and 16 meters, on the other hand, have a daily limit of 2500 kilos. “I still don't have precise indications, but I think that this Monday almost all the boats managed to reach the limit. Today we even caught sardines during the day, with sun, which is not normal», said Mário Galhardo.
In Miguel Cardoso's view, the measures that the Government has adopted, in harmony and with the support of associations in the fishing sector, to increase the stock of sardines, are bearing fruit, «as proved by the IPMA monitoring cruise , made in December».
“At that point, there was clear evidence of the resource's recovery. A new survey is now underway, which began in April, after a period in which there were no catches, so we are very anxious to know the results, which we believe to be equally positive».
"We think that there will be an abundance of the resource at sea, which will impact research and may bring improvements in fishing possibilities for 2019, who knows, even for 2018. Let's see how things go," said Miguel Cardoso.
Mário Galhardo, who is following the research work mentioned by Miguel Cardoso, is also hopeful that there will be an opening on the part of the Government to increase the quota, although he points out that “politicians do not always see what we see”.
The results of the research will only be known within a few weeks, as, at this moment, “Norway” is in the Cape of São Vicente area and will only finish its trip in about a week, in the Gulf of Cadiz
The possibility of an adjustment to the fishing quota for 2018 was mentioned by the Minister of the Sea, in January, during a visit to the University of Algarve. At the high, Ana Paula Vitorino said that there will be "a measurement [of stocks] in the middle of the campaign and we will be able to adjust, up or down, the limits, depending on the results".
The daily and monthly limits, the extension of the closed period, as well as the monitoring measures, were imposed by the Government in order to guarantee the sustainability of this marine resource, following an opinion of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (CIES), released in October, who asked not to fish for sardines in 2018, in Portugal.
The zero fishing scenario is far away, but even so, zones where fishing is not allowed were created, in order to preserve juvenile sardines.
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