There has been a massive increase in the number of sardines caught of the Costa Blanca in recent months.  The result is that if you go directly to quay you can probably buy a box of sardines for Euros 2 but that will buy you 10kg of sardines.

This is great news for sardine lovers but not such good news for the fishermen.  They are losing from the catch every day and some are wondering if it would be better not to go out to sea at all.

The crisis is affecting Javea, Denia and Calpe.  Some boats are registered to receive grants from the EU which fixes a minimum price for the sardines.  However, in the three ports only 5 boats qualify for these grants.

The spokesperson for the fishermen has said that the crews are naturally very demoralized by the situation.  However he went on to say that the sardine population can change very quickly and so the over supply could turn into under supply overnight.