The previous possibility of a complete ban on sardine captures is now off the table, she told reporters.

The announcement came after a meeting between Ana Paula Vitorino, her Spanish counterpart, the European fisheries commissioner and the EC Director General of Fisheries, where they agreed to start the fishing season a month later, both in Portugal and Spain, in early May.

Ana Paula Vitorino said there is still a strong need to implement sustainable fishery measures, meaning, for example, that if juvenile sardines are seen in some marine sectors, the fishing will be forbidden in those areas. These Portuguese-Spanish plan is still being analyzed by Brussels, although the Portuguese government hopes to obtain a positive answer from the European commission regarding their proposals.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has recommended that sardine fishery should be suspended in 2018, since it says sardine stocks have fallen from 106,000 tons in 2006 to 22,000 tons in 2016.

There are, however, also other possible scenarios, such as catch-limit of 24,650 tons.

The organisation recommended last year that there should a complete ban on sardine captures for at least 15 years in Portugal, in order to restore the fish stocks.