Millions of anchovies die in mass beaching in northern Spain
MADRID, Spain Millions of anchovies — a protected species in the European Union — died in northern Spain after an unexplained mass beaching, officials said Friday.
The fish, all juveniles, were found stranded along large stretches of Colunga beach, 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the port city of Gijon, a normally pristine seaside landscape in the province of Asturias.
Anchovies, known as “bocartes” in northern Spain and considered a culinary delicacy, cannot be fished along northern Spanish and French coasts due to an EU protection order meant to allow fish stocks to recover from “absolute decline,” said Luis Laria, chief coordinator of a marine protection unit working with the government.
“It’s a bit of a disaster,” Laria said. “We can’t fish them because they’re so rare, and now they’ve killed themselves.”
“More than 3 tons have been found so far, and our main — untested — hypothesis at the moment is that they tried to flee from predators and accidentally beached,” Laria said. Had the fish grown to maturity, they would have represented more than 100 tons, he said. more…
