Just as the long-awaited sardine fishing season approaches, fishermen have heard that the EU organisation – which only two years ago recommended a 15-year moratorium on sardine capture – has at last confirmed stocks are in fact up, and ‘draconian’ fishing quotas can be relaxed.
Say reports this morning, ICES – the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea – delivered its welcome findings on May 14.
A statement from ANOP Cerco, the national association of trawler fishermen – whose livelihoods depend on the summer catch of the nation’s signature fish – has said the report means Iberian sardine captures ‘can reach 16,450 tons’ this year, not the much reduced 10,799 tons previously established.
This is exactly in line with what fishermen have been saying for months (click here), and comes just as the ‘fleet’ is preparing for the June 3 opening of the ‘sardine season’.
Catches will be ‘concentrated’ through June, July and August – the months traditionally associated with sardine ‘festivals’ and barbecues.
