The Iberian fleet’s sardine fishery opened this week, with a 10,132-tonne quota for the Cantabrian Sea and the north-west region of Spain.
The fishery is conducted by coastal purse seiners and small-scale vessels with a variety of fishing gears, An additional 445 tonnes of quota is set aside for the xeito fleet, which fishes with small-scale drift gear.
Management measures relating to catch and landing limitations – per calendar day and per week if electronic catch data reporting is available – are aimed at rationalising the fishery so that the approximately 300 purse seine, racú, and piobardeira vessels fishing on Cantabrian and northwest fishing grounds can better plan for the Iberian sardine fishery.
The opening of the area 8c directed horse mackerel fishery in 2025 after two years with a zero quota, along with the reopening of anchovy fishing in the Atlantic and the start of the anchovy season in the Cantabrian Sea, plus maintaining the southern mackerel quota, is expected to provide better fishing opportunities for companies in the Cantabrian and northwest regions.
