On Wednesday, in the port of Quarteira, several fishing boats were stranded and others were unable to carry out their activity due to the lack of ice to preserve the fish, reported Olhãopesca, an organisation of Algarve producers.

In statements to Lusa, the president of the company that manages Portuguese ports clarified that the installed capacity of Docapesca and private companies is not always sufficient to supply all interested parties.

“Since the start of the sardine harvest, Docapesca has already contracted the acquisition of 299 tons of ice for the Algarve region, of which 135 tons were for Quarteira”, he said, adding that, to ensure greater availability of ice, Docapesca has been developing preventive maintenance and technical assistance contracts for its factories.

According to the director, due to the complexity of the refrigeration equipment, whose performance “very much depends on the intensity of use and the surrounding atmospheric conditions”, ice supply contracts were also established with external producers to meet the needs of fishermen and shipowners.

In addition to Quarteira, in the municipality of Loulé, problems are also being reported in the western Algarve, according to Barlapescas, which says that the lack of ice, due to breakdowns or lack of maintenance of the machines, is also affecting the fishing ports of Portimão and Sagres, in Vila do Bispo.

According to Sérgio Faiais, in the case of Sagres, due to the expected increase in ice consumption and to avoid “excessive strain” on the Arade ice production equipment, a procedure is being finalized to rent two additional ice factories from Spain, which will operate in Sagres from August until the end of the sardine harvest.