The General Secretariat for Fisheries sets the authorized quantity at 13,545 tonnes, more than double the amount that could be caught in 2020.
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The expansion is the result of updating the scientific recommendation of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for this year, which indicates a notable increase in the existing biomass.
The measure is carried out jointly with Portugal, in accordance with the sustainable management line and the common work between both countries in recent years for the recovery of the population.
The Spanish fleet will be able to catch 13,545 tonnes of Iberian sardines this year, more than double the quota it had in 2020, after the expansion decreed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) given the good recovery data of the species. Initially, 7,193 tonnes had been set for this year.
The Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Resolution of July 28, 2021 of the MAPA General Secretariat for Fisheries, which establishes management provisions for the Iberian sardine ( Sardina pilchardus ) fishery caught in Cantabrian waters (ICES area 8c) and Atlantic waters (ICES area 9a) by which the quota available in 2021 is increased to 13,545 tons, 7,145 more than those allowed in 2020.
All the Spanish fleets that exploit the species benefit from this increase, both the seine, racú and piobardeira of the Cantabrian and Northwest, as well as the vessels that fish with the art of success and the encirclement of the Gulf of Cádiz, through the distribution of said quantity global, as established by order.
The resolution of the General Secretariat for Fisheries modifies that of April 28, 2021 on the management of the Iberian sardine fishery. This measure comes from 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.
Thus, Spain and Portugal have jointly notified the European Commission of this increase, the result of the sustainable management and collaboration that both countries have maintained for years for the recovery of the sardine population, which includes the preparation and application of various management plans submitted also to scientific evaluation by ICES, the last one at the beginning of this 2021. ■