The Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology, after hearing of industry partners, decided to suspend red seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) fishing by vessels from São Miguel between July 28 and September 30, with the exception of vessels assigned with individual quotas.
 
An ordinance published today in the Official Journal determines the temporary suspension of re seabream fishing on São Miguel, where the quota allocated for this island has already reached 90%. However, it allows the unloading of these specimens as by-catch in demersal fishing up to a maximum of 5% of the total fisheries.
 
The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology pointed out that this period of interdiction is "a management measure" that aims to "safeguard what remains of the quota assigned to the island of São Miguel for some time, since the average price of this species tends to rise in coming months."
 
Fausto Brito e Abreu noted that, in the first six months of 2016, "vessels from São Miguel caught almost the same quantity of red bream as that caught in the year of 2015," reminding that the Azores suffered this year a "quota reduction of 25%."
 
The Regional Secretary also pointed out that, in the first half of this year, the fishing of red seabream "reached unusually high catch volumes throughout the region," adding that "it may be an indication that this species stock may be recovering."
 
"The data collected by the scientific cruise dedicated to the study of demersal species, which is taking place at this time, may confirm this possibility," said Brito e Abreu.
 
This year, the Region was assigned a quota of 507 tonnes for red seabream, that was divided by the regional fleet throughout the archipelago, island by island.