Spanish sardine fishery closes as quota exhausted, affecting 700 vessels

The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced that the Iberian sardine fishery in the Cantabrian and north‑west waters will be closed at midnight on 1 August because the allocated quota has been fully harvested. The fleet began the season with an initial quota of 16,848 t, 2.79 % lower than the previous year, and received an additional 1,000 t through a swap with Portugal. Of this extra quota, 834 t were assigned to the Cantabrian‑north‑west fleet, 10 t to vessels using the "xeito" method and 156 t to the Gulf of Cádiz fleet.

Average prices rose to €1.50 per kg – 15 cents above the previous year and 33 % higher than two years ago – improving profitability for the sector. The closure impacts nearly 700 vessels from Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and Andalusia. Galicia’s fleet, which has consumed its entire share of 16,848 t (33.5 % of the joint Spanish‑Portuguese total TAC of 50,294 t), is considering protest actions. Association of Galician Fleet Owners (Acerga) president Óscar Pose warned that "a very hard year" lies ahead and criticised what he called an unfair distribution of fishing rights, the need to rent space in the Gulf of Cádiz and high price levels of around €1.20 per kg.