Jun
18
Sharp decline in sardine catches
Filed Under EN
The sharp decline in sardine catches caused a price increase. (Photo: Juan Murias)
Sharp decline in sardine catches
SPAIN
Monday, June 18, 2012, 23:10 (GMT + 9)
The Technology Platform of Fisheries under the Ministry of Marine Affairs of Xunta de Galicia, reported that the catch of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fell sharply during the first two weeks of June in the Atlantic coast.
During the first 15 days of June, 2012 about 25,000 kilograms of the pelagic resource were sold in the fresh market in Vigo while in May about 250,000 kilograms had been traded.
This sharp decline was also recorded in all the markets of the Atlantic coast, and even in Portugal.
The decline in catches caused an increase in the price of this species.
The sales of sardines in the fish market in Vigo reached about 150,000 kilograms in June last year. According to statistics from the Platform, this June has been the worst since 2007, when over 250,000 kilograms of sardines were traded in the market in Vigo, the newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.
In the markets of La Coruña, Cangas and Marín the records of sales in the first 15 days of June are also much worse than in the same period of 2011.
According to the president of the Galician Federation of Fishermen’s associations, Benito González, the sardine is a “capricious species.” In May there were very good catches but now “there are little sardine specimens.”
The data indicate that the decline in catches is widespread. Some fishermen attributed this situation largely to weather issues but not everyone agrees on this view.
Each kilogram of sardine is being sold for EUR 6 to consumers and from the associations it has been warned that prices “will go up a lot” because of the scarcity of the resource and the dates.
Moreover, last April a team of scientists in oceanographic centres in the Balearic Islands and in Malaga of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) studied the environmental conditions characterizing the habitat of the sardine in the Mediterranean Sea during several seasons of the year.
The study, published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, was carried out with the collaboration of experts from other research centres in Europe.
During the investigation, scientists developed a model to determine the most favourable areas for the life of sardines in the Mediterranean.
Related article:
– Sardine ‘suitable habitat’ identified in the Mediterranean
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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