Portugal’s salt-cod quota cut by 200 tons

Portugal’s salt cod quota has been cut this year by 200 tons. Minister of the Sea Ricardo Serrão Santos has admitted that no reduction in quotas is ever well received, but this one is necessary due to the “big problem” of fishing salt cod in the North Sea, where resources have “reached a state of exhaustion”. The large reduction in fishing should help the species recover, he said. Salt cod, or ‘bacalhau’, is one of Portugal’s ‘traditional staples’. It was used to feed sailors in the 15th century (because in its salted dried form it could be stored for months onboard). But it has never been native to Portuguese waters. The reduced quota this year amounts to 2,607 tons.