In a communiqué issued on Friday after a meeting with the sardine commission – which includes sector operators, environmentalist associations and scientists –the sea minister wrote that "it is considered possible to prolong the fishing season until the end of October with the stock having recovered by an estimated 4%”.

The minister added that these positions were presented to the Spanish general secretary of fisheries and will be presented to the European Commission (EC) next week and the government hopes there is “readiness to accept them".

The minister said that the “total sardine biomass in December 2016, previously estimated at 166,000 tons has been revised up to 199,264 tons" and that the capture amounts have seen “significant changes".