Google translation from the Faro de Vigo
This story from a Spanish Magazine.
The strong wind makes sardine fishing difficult in Pontevedra a week from San Juan "The gusts complicate using the nets," the shipowners say. "The species has already doubled its price for San Antonio and they expect it to be maintained -" For that day, it will appear, "they explain
The Galician siege is in the key dates for sardine capture. The quotations from San Antonio (the last lights) and San Juan encourage the species to double its price and capture becomes a priority, taking advantage of this way the scarce quota of which they have jointly with the Portuguese vessels. However, fishing is not being good in the area of Pontevedra, since strong wind gusts are making it difficult to use the nets. "Today [by yesterday] we could have easily arrived at 200 boxes of sardines, but it was not possible", explains one of the shipowners of Cesantes (Redondela) with port base in Vigo .
Although some preferred to continue the anchovy campaign in the Bay of Biscay until recently, most of the purse seiners in the Vigo estuary are working in the area. Earlier in the week they were able to fish normally because time allowed. Then, they were able to capture some sardine boxes coinciding with the festival that enjoys a great following in Portugal. "Already then the box was paid more than 30 euros, when before it was in the middle," he explains.
The sardine made a lot of presence in this area when the fishery opened on March 1, but the siege was reluctant to catch because of the scarce quota (3,200 tons until July). With a cap of 6,000 kilos a week per boat since last June 5 (until then was at 3,000 kilos), the siege looks for the best banks, away from the tuna, "which also causes the sardine to escape." In the case of the province of Pontevedra, the boats fish outside of Ons, in A Guardia and also in the mouth of the estuary of Muros-Noia.
"Now we expect that the wind will calm down for a week and we can fish well, but as always, for San Juan there will be sardine Galician," the shipowners explain.
Of course, in front will have as "rival" the imported sardine. "The Moroccan is invading us," they say. And is that, as published FARO, the country is the one that sardines most sardine sells to Galicia, a community that has since 2011 importing more sardines than the one that is caught because of the cap imposed.
Situation in the north
A totally different case is that which occurs in the northern part of the community. There they find quite a lot and sell well, as explained by the spokesman of the Association of Siege of Galicia (Acerga), Andrés García, which specifies that the capture of the species is mainly concentrated between Cabo Prior (Ferrol) and Punta Candelaria (Cedeira)), as well as in the area of Sisargas and the Tower of Hercules.
"Two days ago that appears a lot and what is clear is that there will be sardines of ours for San Juan," said Garcia, who assures that there is more quantity than last year and that fishermen are limited by the cap established by The Ministry of Fisheries.
Vice-President Cerqueiros Galegos (Cergal), Gonzalo Pérez, corroborated that the species moved north and that the boats that were on the anchovy coast and returned from the Basque Country to catch sardines do not have good figures. "At the beginning of the year you could see more sardines, but in the south there is no more, it can be a bad San Juan," Gonzalez lamented.