The General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture has decreed the closure of the Iberian sardine fishery for purse seiners, racú, and piobardeira boats from the Cantabrian Sea and northwest starting at 00:00 hours on Saturday, August 1, once it has been confirmed that the entire quota set for this campaign has been consumed.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries, the season concludes "with good economic data," as the price per kilo of sardine has reached an average of 1.50 euros, that is, 15 cents more than the average of the previous year and 50 cents above that in 2024, "which has contributed to improving the profitability and socioeconomic viability of fishing companies," the department indicates in a note.
In this campaign, the fleet had an initial quota of 16,848 tons of Iberian sardine, 2.79% lower than that of the previous year. However, the activity has been able to extend a few additional days thanks to 1,000 extra tons obtained through an exchange with Portugal, the result of intense negotiations between the governments of both countries.
From that supplementary quota, the General Secretariat of Fisheries has distributed 834 tons among the purse seiners, racú, and piobardeira boats from the Cantabrian Sea and northwest, 10 tons for the vessels that fish with the xeito method, and 156 tons for the purse seine fleet of the Gulf of Cádiz.
This decision has affected nearly 700 vessels from Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and Andalusia, of which 624 belong to the modalities of purse seine, racú, piobardeira, and xeito in the Cantabrian and northwest fishing grounds.
At the same time, although on August 1 the closure of Olympic fishing for purse seiners, racú, and piobardeira from the Cantabrian Sea and northwest will take effect, boats that have temporary transmissions of sardine from the purse seine of the Gulf of Cádiz will be able to continue fishing.
Based on the analysis carried out to calculate the optimization surplus, and taking consumption as of August 31 as a basis, the General Secretariat of Fisheries will decide whether to activate the optimization mechanism for Iberian sardine. Thus, the authorized fleet that has exhausted its quota and meets the established requirements will be able to continue this fishery until the common pool is consumed or until the closure of directed fishing, as stipulated in the current resolutions for this fishing ground.