"The Azores still had 175 tonnes of red seabream quota, to which they now add 53 tonnes, following the publication of a European Commission regulation that adds quantities not consumed in 2018 to the 2019 fishing quotas ".

Gui Menezes, said that the Regional Government, following this news, decided to raise the maximum limit of allowable catches of red seabream per vessel to 3% of the overall quota allocated to the Azores for this species.

According to the order, which was put to consultation of the sector and which should be published this week in the Official Journal, Azorean vessels will be able to catch, until the end of the year, up to a maximum limit of about 17 tons of red seabream.

Until now, each fishing vessel had a catch limit of 2% of the total quota of this species for the Azores.

This measure aims to "make full use" of the fishing opportunities for this year as "it is at the end of the year that red seabreams reach their highest levels at first sale, especially on the Spanish market”.

According to Gui Menezes, "the region has consumed, to date, 391 of the 566 tonnes that were available for this year, which translates into €5.2 million at first sale.