MARE director in Expresso - So much sea for so little fish

There is a great diversity of fish in Portugal, but two thirds of what is actually consumed is imported. MARE Director Pedro Raposo de Almeida spoke to Expresso about how little fish there is, despite the high abundance in our country.

‘We have diversity, but we've never had a large quantity, at least to supply what the market demands,’ explains Pedro Raposo de Almeida to the newspaper Expresso. Currently, the Portuguese fishing fleet catches less than half of what was caught in the 60s. In 2023, only 171,000 tonnes of fish were caught (81% in the Exclusive Economic Zone), which translates into 17 kg per capita per year. Despite this, each Portuguese person consumes almost 60kg of fish a year.

This means that 2/3 of the fish consumed in Portugal is imported. In 2023 alone, this figure corresponded to a negative balance of 1176.2 million euros for our country. Contributing to this imbalance is mainly the import of fresh, frozen and dried fish and other marine animals from Spain, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Chile, South Africa and Russia.

For Pedro R. de Almeida, director of MARE, the solution lies in valuing the species fished and the work of the fishermen. The majority of the national fleet is made up of coastal and artisanal fishing boats, which don't travel far from the coast (around 12 nautical miles) and aren't exclusively dedicated to fishing a single species. Despite this, around 73 per cent of what is caught in Portugal is sardines, horse mackerel, hake, octopus, pout, blue whiting and mackerel, leaving the quotas for many species unused.

‘The fish we catch has to be valued, as does the fishermen's income, so that fisheries are sustainable,’ emphasises Pedro R. Almeida, pointing out that “the price skyrockets between 5 and 10 times between intermediaries and the final consumer”, without this income reaching the fisherman.

In addition to fishing gear, Portugal has invested in aquaculture, a sector that has grown by 72 per cent in the last 10 years. According to fisheries statistics, fish, shellfish and algae produced in aquaculture in Portugal account for less than 10 per cent of the total catch of wild marine animals at national level, and its growth is being held back by environmental risks and a lack of funding.

Pedro R. Almeida recognises the risks, but regrets that aquaculture is not growing more in Portugal due to ‘a lack of incentives’. He adds, however, that these ‘shouldn't be about having cages with too many animals, running risks like those experienced in Norway’, where salmon production in the fjords has faced viral outbreaks that contaminate other species, endangering wild stocks.

To access the article in the Expresso, click HERE