The General Secretariat for Fisheries increases the available quota to almost 5,279 tonnes, a measure with which the increase in the total number of catches allowed to the whole of the Spanish fleet is transferred to this fishing ground.
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The expansion is the result of the update of the scientific recommendation of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea for the present 2021, which indicates a notable increase in the existing biomass.
The Official State Gazette (BOE) yesterday published the resolution of July 28, 2021 of the General Secretariat of Fisheries, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), by which it expands the quota of Iberian sardines ( Sardina pilchardus ) that will be able to capture the vessels of the purse-seine census of the Gulf of Cádiz during 2021, which is finally set at 5,279 tons.
This quantity represents 2,475 tons more than the initial allocation made in May and represents an increase of more than double (111%) with respect to the quota that was made available to this fleet in 2020.
The resolution is a modification of the one signed by the General Secretariat for Fisheries on May 17, 2021 on the allocation of catch quotas for Iberian sardines. In this way, the individual quotas of the purse-seine vessels in the Gulf of Cádiz are transferred to the increase in the overall number of catches that the Spanish fleet can make, the resolution of which was published in the BOE on August 6.
This measure reflects the update of the scientific recommendation made by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on the Iberian sardine population last June, which indicates a significant improvement in its biomass.
This improvement and this increase in the amount available are the result of the sustainable management and joint collaboration that Spain and Portugal have carried out for years to recover the population.
This work would not have yielded the results now achieved without the involvement and responsibility of the Spanish fishing sector as a whole, and of the purse-seine fleet in the Gulf of Cádiz in particular, which has traditionally had higher sardine catches compared to fleets from other fishing grounds.
This remarkable increase in the global quantity allocated to the Gulf of Cádiz fleet also occurs in midsummer, which is when the sardine has a greater demand and reaches higher prices, which will allow a significant improvement in the yields and benefits of this fleet, as it is highly dependent on this species as it constitutes, together with the anchovy, the bulk of the annual catches made. ■