Management measures applicable to some of the main species of crustaceans      

Crustaceans

 

 

Common Prawn - Palaemon serratus

Minimum conservation reference size: 6 cm
Rules applicable to trawl fishing: target species with mesh sizes 20-31 mm and 32-54 mm with a minimum 50% for all target species which also includes Henslow’s swimming crab and another species of shrimp
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Can be captured with 8-29 mm mesh size cage traps, provided that a minimum percentage of 80% is caught per tide
Closed season: January

Blue or Red Shrimp - Aristeus antennatus

Minimum conservation reference size: 9,4 cm (2,9 cm carapace length)
Rules applicable to trawl fishing: target species with mesh size 55-59 mm with a minimum 30% for all target species which also includes Giant red shrimp and Deep-water rose shrimp (20% if mesh size ≥ 70 mm is also on board)
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Closed season: January

Deep-water rose shrimp - Parapenaeus longirostris

Minimum conservation reference size: 9,4 cm (2,4 cm carapace length)
Rules applicable to trawl fishing: target species with mesh size 55-59 mm with a minimum 30% for all target species which also includes Blue or red shrimp and Deep-water rose shrimp (20% if mesh size ≥ 70 mm is also on board)
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Closed season: January

Lobsters - Palinurus spp.

Minimum conservation reference size: 9,5 cm (carapace length)
Can be captured with cage traps, mesh size > 50 mm with 100% target species of the total on board
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Closed season with cage traps: From October to end of December

Norway lobster - Nephrops norvegicus

Minimum conservation reference size: 7 cm (2 cm carapace length)
Species subject to TAC / quota
Rules applicable to trawl fishing: target species with mesh size ≥ 70 mm
Can be captured with cage traps, mesh size 30-50 mm, with 80% for the set of target species that includes, octopus, Velvet swimcrab and lobsters and mesh size > 50 mm, with 100% of the target species
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Species subject to a multiannual plan for the demersal stocks, Regulation (EU)  No 2019/472, of 19 march
Closed season: January

Velvet swimcrab  and Liocarcinus swimcrabs - Necora puber e Liocarcinus spp.

Minimum conservation reference size: 5 cm
Can be captured with cage traps, mesh size 8-29 mm and 30-50 mm, with 80% for the set of target species that includes, octopus, norway lobster and lobsters and mesh size > 50 mm, with 100% of the target species
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Closed season: From February 15 to June 15

Barnacle - Pollicipes pollicipes

Minimum conservation reference size: 2 cm (without prejudice to the minimum size set for Natural Reserve of Berlengas )
Can be captured with arrilhada (artisanal Portuguese gear) by licensed catchers
The harvest has specific rules in the Natural Reserve of Berlengas (RNB) and in the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina (PNSACV)
There is a maximum catch limit of 20 kg per day / catcher (without prejudice to other quantities set out in RNB and PNSACV)
Closed season: From September 15 to October 15 (without prejudice to the longer closed seasons, provided for in the two zones mentioned above)

Spinous spider crab - Maja squinado

Minimum conservation reference size :12 cm
Can be caught with cage traps, mesh size > 50 mm
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board
Closed season: From February 15 to June 15

Edible crab - Cancer pagurus

Minimum conservation reference size: 13 cm
Can be caught with cage traps, mesh size > 50 mm
Fishing with gillnets is prohibited, except as by-catch, up to 5% of the total on board