SAN SEBASTIAN, Aug. 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The inshore Northern Bonito campaign has reached its halfway point with 53.5% of this year’s quota, with a total of 18,100 tonnes consumed, as reported by the Organization of Inshore Fishing Producers of Gipuzkoa, Kofradia , which has pointed out that it is being “more leisurely, with less intense and more distributed captures” than the previous two.
In a statement, Kofradia has reported that with the sales made this past Monday and this Tuesday at the markets of Hondarribia, Pasaia, Getaria, Ondarroa and Bermeo, “53.50% of the allocated quota for this 2022 has already been consumed ” and, compared to the last two seasons, “this year is being slower, with less intense catches and more spread out”.
“This week, in which 50% of the quota has been exceeded, is the same week in which the closure of the fishery was decreed last year,” he recalled. In this sense, he has foreseen that this year there will also be inshore bonito in September.
From Kofradia they have indicated that the Basque inshore fishermen stress that this year’s campaign “is closer to the normality of the bonito fishery than the last two campaigns (which closed in mid-August) which were really intense and excessively short “.
“Although the distribution of the albacore quota would greatly help the sector in better campaign management, the slower entry of albacore is making it possible to obtain higher average prices than in recent campaigns,” the same sources have pointed out.
They have also highlighted that the quota for this 2022 is “historic”, since “there has never been such a high quota, which also has the MSC seal of sustainability, which shows that the health of the stock of northern bonito is good” .
In addition, they have pointed out that inshore fishermen “are fishing bonito in different areas of the Bay of Biscay, with the bulk of the fleet not far from the coast, which allows for shorter tides and brings in extra quality fish”.
Kofradia recalled that “inshore bonito, fished one by one, can be easily identified in fishmongers thanks to the Eusko Label that guarantees the quality of the product, as well as its traceability and the sustainability of the fishing grounds and marine resources”.
