Matosinhos, Portugal, April 22, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal should be able from June or July of this year to use the new blue label for certifying sustainable sardine fishing, the secretary of state for Fisheries, Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar, said on Tuesday in Matosinhos, in Porto district, also confirming a five-tonne increase in the amount of sardine that can be fished this year.
Speaking on the sidelines of the signing of contracts for the supply of Portuguese sardines between the Propeixe fleet (Matosinhos) and the national canning industry, which took place on Tuesday in Matosinhos, the secretary of state expressed her conviction that the certificate would arrive in the summer.
"We're already in the final stretch," she said. "There are various criteria that have to be assessed. But I believe that by the end of June, July, we should have the certificate in place... so that our products have this added value, which will certainly also increase the price of the product"
Certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a way of demonstrating that a fishery takes into account the best international practices for sustainable fishing. Fish and shellfish from certified fisheries can be given the MSC blue label, thus assuring consumers that the product they are buying is sustainable.
Monteiro de Aguiar explained that, with regard to the volume of sardine fishing authorised by the European Union authorities for 2025, "Portugal has 66.5 percent of the Iberian quota, an increase of around five thousand tonnes" on 2024.
"We're talking about sixteen percent more than last year," she said. "These are very positive figures for the sector."
The contract signed on Tuesday, which ensures a second year for the partnership between the fishing and canning industries in Matosinhos, increases the number of processing companies involved to eight, revealed the president of the National Association of Canned Fish Industries (ANICP), José Maria Freitas.
"Some industries that weren't involved last year have already joined in, which means that they are all beginning to see the importance and benefit of this association," he said. "This year is a very special year for us and for Portuguese sardines, because we are in the process of MSC certification. Today there is only one certified sardine in Europe, and that is the English sardine."
According to Freitas, MSC certification "will be a huge added value" for Portuguese fisheries, which is why the 2025 contracts "have already reflected a huge added value for production, because compared to previous years" the price has risen by "more than ten percent."
Regarding this year's fishing quota, Freitas expressed the hope that "the industry and the outlets will allow this percentage to be maintained, because it gives enormous added value in the distribution of sardines, compared to the Spanish."
Representing shipowners, Agostinho da Mata, the president of the Propeixe association, stressed that the contract signed on Tuesday “has a very stabilising effect on the fishery” as it guarantees that “half of what the boats bring ashore is sold at a fixed price, which guarantees them an income straight away.
"The first fish they unload must be sold at the auction," he explained. "We'll be able to fish five thousand tonnes more than last year. We'll be able to work for a while longer.
"So this is all good news," he went on, adding that the partnership's success meant continued employment for the crew on board.
According to da Mata, the fishermen "only get paid when they fish and, when there is stability and fish, this is a way for them to stay on board the boats" - making this a "social issue" as well as a business one.
"We have to fish and we have to sell well so that everyone earns enough," he said. "Life isn't easy for anyone and for fishermen even less so - life is very hard for them. This is a concern and it's our duty [to] do all the right things to stabilise the sector."
JFO/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
