Fishing for anchovy will be banned from Wednesday, November 6th, due to the exhaustion of the available quota for this species, largely due to the high catch practiced by fishermen north of Cabo da Roca.
This is affirmed by the Algarve Producers Organizations (OP) Olhãopesca and Barlapescas, who say that the Southern Siege fleet will be "severely harmed" by the premature closure of anchovy fishing, at a time when the species occurs naturally in the Algarve, and demand measures from the Government.
According to representatives of the Algarve fishermen, "the anchovy quota was mostly caught by the fleet operating north of Cabo da Roca, where there is a large concentration of the species, massively and with high daily catch limits".
When fishing in large quantities, fishermen in the North did not take into account “the different behavior of the species along the coast”, nor the length of the fishing period.
In September, the annual fishing quota for this species was revised downwards, leaving Portugal with the quota of 5343 tons for the period between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020. «However, due to its early use, the quota was adjusted to 3196 tonnes. As such, the fishery will be prematurely closed next Wednesday, the 6th, due to the exhaustion of the referred quota”, illustrated the POs.
The ban could not come at a worse time, they argue, as it is now that there is more anchovy in the South, an "important species and alternative to the ban on sardines."
«The Algarve-based Siege Producers' Organizations, Olhãopesca and Barlapescas, will contest with the administration and demand for 2020 a more balanced anchovy quota management with the implementation of measures that adequately resonate in each of the geographic areas and in order to allow fishing throughout the entire period”, conclude the two associations.
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