The Decline of the Fishing Industry

For over a century, Setúbal was synonymous with sardines. At its peak in the 1920s, the city housed 130 canning factories and thousands of fishermen put to sea each morning. Today, barely a dozen cooperative vessels remain, crewed by ageing men who remember a world that no longer exists. The decline of the fishing industry is not merely an economic story – it is the unravelling of a community’s identity.

The scale of the collapse

The numbers tell a stark tale. In the mid-1980s, the Iberian sardine stock – shared between Portugal and Spain – supported a biomass estimated at 1.3 million tonnes (1984). Combined Iberian catches routinely exceeded 200,000 tonnes per year. The sardine was the engine of Portugal’s fishing economy, and Setúbal was its beating heart.

By the 2010s, the picture had changed beyond recognition. Biomass plummeted to a historic low of approximately 113,000 tonnes in 2015 – less than a tenth of its 1984 level. Portuguese catches collapsed in tandem: in 2018, the total national sardine catch fell to just 9,624 tonnes, a figure that would have been unthinkable a generation earlier.

Causes of the decline

No single factor explains the collapse. Instead, a combination of overfishing, environmental change and institutional failure drove the stock to the brink.

Overfishing

For decades, Portuguese and Spanish fleets exploited the sardine stock with little coordination. Each country set its own quotas, and enforcement was weak. Industrial purse seiners – far more efficient than the traditional arte xávega beach seines – could harvest enormous quantities in a single night. By the time the European Union imposed joint Iberian quotas in the early 2000s, the damage was already advanced.

Climate change and ocean warming

Sardines are highly sensitive to water temperature. Warming Atlantic waters have disrupted spawning cycles and increased larval mortality. Upwelling patterns off the Portuguese coast – the cold, nutrient-rich currents that feed plankton blooms – have become less predictable. For a species that depends on precise environmental conditions to reproduce, even small shifts can cascade into population crashes.

Moroccan competition

As Iberian stocks fell, Morocco emerged as the world’s leading sardine producer, with catches exceeding one million tonnes per year. Moroccan sardines, processed at lower cost, flooded European markets and undercut Portuguese producers. Setúbal’s fishermen found themselves squeezed between declining local stocks and cheap imports.

Regulatory failures

Portugal and Spain failed for years to establish a unified management plan for the shared Iberian stock. Even after EU intervention, quota negotiations were contentious. Seasonal closures – typically from February to May – were necessary but unpopular, as they left fishermen without income during lean months.

Impact on Setúbal

A vanishing workforce

By 2021, the Setúbal fishing cooperative operated approximately 12 vessels with around 250 active fishermen. Of those, an estimated 70% were over 50 years old. Young people have overwhelmingly abandoned the profession: low wages, gruelling hours, physical danger and the uncertainty of quota-dependent income offer little appeal compared to service-sector jobs in Lisbon, barely an hour away.

The loss of community

The decline has hollowed out Setúbal’s traditional fishing neighbourhoods. Bairro dos Pescadores and Fontainhas, once tightly knit communities where entire families were bound to the sea, have lost much of their distinct character. Houses that belonged to fishing families for generations are sold or rented to outsiders. The social rituals of the trade – net mending on the quay, the pre-dawn departures, the evening fish auctions at the lota – have faded from daily life.

The fishing culture of Setúbal survives more as heritage than as a living economy. Festivals celebrate what was, rather than what is.

Voices from the docks

Leonel Russo has been a fisherman since the age of 10. At 75, he still repairs nets at the harbour, though he rarely goes to sea. “When I started, you could see sardines silver in the water from the quay,” he recalls. “Now the young ones don’t even know what a sardine looks like alive.”

Fernando Mendes, who began fishing in 1965, echoes the sentiment: “A pesca já não é o que era” – fishing isn’t what it used to be. He remembers when Setúbal’s fleet numbered in the hundreds and the canning factories ran three shifts. “We fed Portugal,” he says. “Now Portugal imports fish from Morocco.”

Both men represent a generation for whom the sea was not a career choice but an inheritance. When they retire, much of the practical knowledge they carry – reading the currents, knowing where the shoals gather, understanding the moods of the Sado estuary – will retire with them.

The canning industry: rise and fall

The fate of the fishing fleet is inseparable from the fate of the canning industry. Over 140 years, more than 400 canning factories operated in Setúbal and its surroundings. The industry peaked in the 1920s, when approximately 130 factories employed thousands of workers – predominantly women – who cleaned, packed and sealed sardines by hand.

The decline was slow at first, then sudden. As stocks fell and costs rose, factories closed one by one. The last two sardine canneries in Setúbal shut their doors in 1995. Today, sardines caught off the Setúbal coast must travel approximately 400 km north to canneries in Matosinhos, near Porto, for processing – an irony that is not lost on local fishermen.

The canning factories themselves have been repurposed or demolished. Some, like the former Feu Hermanos complex, have become cultural spaces. Others are simply empty lots. The distinctive smell of fish and olive oil that once defined entire streets of the city centre has vanished.

Government support and EU funding

The Portuguese government and the European Union have attempted to cushion the blow through a series of financial programmes.

MAR 2020 and MAR 2030

The MAR 2020 programme (2014–2020) and its successor MAR 2030 (2021–2027) channel EU structural funds to Portugal’s fishing sector. Priorities include fleet modernisation, port infrastructure, aquaculture development and support for fishing communities in transition.

Direct subsidies

Fishermen receive fuel subsidies capped at a maximum of EUR 758,000 per beneficiary to offset rising diesel costs. During mandatory seasonal closures, compensation payments are available to vessel owners and crew members who are unable to fish.

Limitations

Critics argue that subsidies address symptoms rather than causes. The fundamental problem – a depleted stock and an ageing workforce – cannot be solved with fuel vouchers. Moreover, the administrative burden of applying for EU funds is often prohibitive for small-scale fishermen with limited literacy and no office staff.

Signs of recovery

Despite the grim trajectory, there are reasons for cautious optimism.

Biomass recovery

After years of strict quotas and seasonal closures, the Iberian sardine biomass has begun to recover. By 2021, estimates placed the stock at approximately 451,000 tonnes – still far below the 1984 peak, but more than triple the 2015 low point. Scientists attribute the recovery to a combination of reduced fishing pressure and several favourable spawning seasons.

MSC certification regained

In July 2025, the Iberian sardine fishery regained its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification – a milestone that had been lost years earlier as the stock crashed. The certification covers 317 vessels across Portugal and Spain and signals to international markets that the fishery meets rigorous sustainability standards.

Quotas rising

The 2025 quota for Iberian sardine was set at 34,406 tonnes – a significant increase from the near-zero allocations of the worst years. While still modest by historical standards, the rising quota reflects scientific confidence in the stock’s trajectory.

Sustainable initiatives

Several local and national initiatives aim to build a more resilient future for Setúbal’s fishing sector.

“O que vem à rede”

The campaign “O que vem à rede” (“What comes in the net”) encourages consumers to diversify their fish consumption beyond sardines and codfish. By promoting lesser-known species – horse mackerel, bogue, red mullet – the initiative reduces pressure on sardine stocks while supporting fishermen’s incomes.

Semana do Mar e do Pescador

The annual Semana do Mar e do Pescador (Sea and Fisherman Week) in Setúbal celebrates the city’s maritime heritage and raises awareness of the challenges facing the fishing community. Events include boat tours, cooking demonstrations, exhibitions and debates on the future of sustainable fishing.

Artisanal fishing associations

Local associations advocate for the rights of small-scale fishermen and promote artisanal methods as both ecologically sound and culturally valuable. Despite the dominance of industrial purse seining – which accounts for approximately 98% of the sardine catch – an estimated 84.4% of Portuguese fishing licences are still classified as small-scale (pequena pesca).

Traditional vs. industrial fishing

The tension between traditional and industrial fishing methods mirrors a broader conflict across Portugal’s coast.

Arte xávega

The arte xávega – the beach seine hauled by teams of fishermen (and historically by oxen) – is now nearly extinct. It accounts for barely 2% of the total catch and survives primarily as a cultural demonstration rather than a commercial practice. In Setúbal, the last arte xávega operations are tourist attractions rather than serious fishing enterprises.

Purse seining

Industrial purse seiners (cerco) dominate the sardine fishery. These vessels, typically 20–30 metres long, use sonar to locate shoals and encircle them with massive nets. A single set can capture tens of tonnes. The efficiency is unmatched, but so is the potential for overfishing when quotas are poorly enforced.

The paradox

The paradox of Portuguese fishing is statistical: the vast majority of licences are small-scale, but the vast majority of fish are caught by industrial vessels. This means that policy decisions – quota allocations, seasonal closures, subsidies – disproportionately affect the small-scale fishermen who are least able to absorb economic shocks.

Looking ahead

The future of Setúbal’s fishing industry depends on factors largely beyond the control of local fishermen. Climate change will continue to reshape Atlantic ecosystems. EU quota negotiations will determine how much can be caught and when. Consumer preferences will influence whether Portuguese sardines can command a premium over cheaper imports.

What is certain is that the industry will never return to its 20th-century scale. The hundreds of boats, the thousands of fishermen, the 130 canning factories – these belong to history. The question is not whether Setúbal can rebuild what was lost, but whether it can preserve what remains: a smaller, more sustainable fleet, a living connection to the sea, and the knowledge of men like Leonel Russo and Fernando Mendes before it disappears forever.

Timeline

See also

• Fishing Culture of Setúbal
• Sardines: The Symbol of Setúbal
• The Canning Industry
• Setúbal Port Workers
• The Modern Port of Setúbal
• Cooperatives and Small Business