The white tuna campaign has kept us very busy during these summer months.
But it has not been several years that it doesn’t last until September. This year, for the fifth consecutive year, the tuna coastal fishing season has been drastically shortened due to the consumption of the administrative quota established by the European Union, despite the fact that the 2021 quota had increased by 12.5 % compared to the previous one.
The two main Asturian fish markets in terms of volume auctioned 1,375,000 kg at the Avilés fish market and 928,136 kilos at the Gijón fish market, bringing the combined turnover from sales of this species to 9.3 million euros, compared to 7.59 million euros the previous year, an increase of 22.52%. Moreover, this figure is the best of the five-year period, as it exceeds the 9.27 million of 2019, which was the best record until now.
In this campaign, 278 authorised Spanish flag vessels have participated.
In addition, it should be mentioned that this tuna is caught using sustainable fishing methods, certified by the Marine Steward Council (MSC). To learn more about how this species is fished, we recommend reading the following article. How the white tuna is caught.
The closure of the fishery was announced on 16 August, on the grounds that the quota had been covered. However, it was later confirmed that 375 tonnes remained to be fished, meaning that the final consumption of the Spanish fleet was 97.84% of the allocated quota.
We share with you this video that we filmed during the month of July in our facilities, as well as in the Avilés fish market.