Fishing

   Portugal's long coastline and seafaring tradition have made fishing an important economic activity. The country's main fishing ports and centers of commercial fish processing are Lisbon, Setúbal, Matosinhos, and Portimão. The most important of the 200 species of fish caught in adjacent waters are anchovy, sardines, mackerel, stickleback, and tunny. While most fish caught by Portuguese fishermen is consumed locally, sardines, canned in oil, are exported.

   During the Estado Novo, fishermen were organized into mixed employer-employee organizations called casas dos pescadores, but these were underfunded, and, because no attempt was made to modernize the industry, fishing stagnated. Cod fishing off Greenland and Newfoundland, at one time a major aspect of the Portuguese fishing industry, went into decline and has all but disappeared owing to the failure of Portugal to modernize its cod-fishing fleet and adopt modern fishing techniques. This has meant that Portugal has had to purchase foreign-caught cod to satisfy local demand for bacalhau (codfish), the country's national dish since the 15th century.

   See also Economy.