Portugal

The FLAG territory covers the islands of Terceira and Graciosa which are situated in the Central Group of the Azores archipelago and cover a total surface area of 403.6km2. The FLAG covers 126km of coastline on Terceira Island and 44km on Graciosa. Not dissimilar to most of the Azores, fisheries in the FLAG area and small-scale in nature.

The FLAG area covers the two most western islands of the Azores archipelago, Santa Maria and São Miguel. The area’s fisheries sector is characterised by traditional small-scale fisheries (mainly small siege, pole and long-line vessels). Common catches include small (mackerel and sardines) and large pelagic (tuna and swordfish) species, deep-water demersal, crustaceans and molluscs.

The Sotavento do Algarve FLAG is looking for cases, solutions and actions taken by local companies to breed a specific clam species: the Ruditapes decussatus.

The peninsula of Setúbal is located in the south of Lisbon and has many urban and suburban centres. Here, fishing is an important activity that has developed over centuries along the Atlantic coast and the estuaries of Sado and Tejo.

To the north of Lisbon, Mafra and Cascais are coastal municipalities with strong fisheries sectors due in part to the presence of two auctions and important municipal fish markets in Ericeira and Cascais.

The region Oeste consists of several fishing communities primarily dedicated to small scale fishing and gathering activities such as the gathering of shellfish, seaweed, mussels and barnacles, using mostly small boats. It includes two municipalities, Peniche and Nazaré, which act as twin centres of fishing activity and attract skilled labour, investment, business equipment and infrastructure.

The FLAG area includes the parishes of Marinha Grande and Vieira de Leiria in the municipality of Marinha Grande and the parish of Coimbrão in the municipality of Leiria. The fishing communities here include Vieira de Leiria, Pedrógão and São Pedro de Moel

In this 2017 edition: support to small scale coastal fisheries, the challenge of generational renewal, FLAGs, local innovation and risk taking, cooperation takes off in CLLD fisheries areas, reports from Spain, Sweden and Germany

The Aveiro FLAG coincides with the Aveiro lagoon (“Ria de Aveiro”), the biggest lagoon in Portugal (60km long and 25km wide) which is a 'Bird Directive Site' included in the European Natura 2000 network. Several small-scale fishing communities can be found in five municipalities along the coast and lagoon (Ovar, Murtosa, Aveiro, Ílhavo and Vagos).

The area is defined by the Ria Formosa (which covers five municipalities), a natural river system, structuring the landscape and ecological systems, which gives the Sotavento its own characteristics. The Eastern Algarve is home to the largest wetland in southern Portugal, 11,000 hectares large stretching along approximately 60 km of coastline between Ancão (Loulé) and Manta Rota (Vila Real de Santo António). It forms a lagoon-estuarine system with a wide area of marshes, islands and channels protected by robust sand ridges, which form two peninsulas (Ancão and Cacela) and five barrier islands (Barreta, Culatra, Armona, Tavira and Cabanas).