As of tomorrow, the collection of limpets (lapas) will be prohibited throughout the Region, and this prohibition is expected to remain in place until at least April 30, 2025.
Order No. 377/2024 was published today in the Regional Official Gazette (JORAM), amending the legal framework for limpet harvesting in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This review is necessary to ensure sustainable exploitation and the recovery of limpet populations, considering that recent censuses indicate a shortage of limpets.
The main objective of this change is to “ensure the reproduction of these species (white limpet (Patella aspera) and black limpet (Patella ordinaria)), the settlement and recruitment of larvae and the entry of recruits in the short and medium term into the populations, aiming at their recovery in the medium and long term”.
However, the Government takes the opportunity to promote the “reorganization of the activity with a clear distinction between harvesting for commercial and non-commercial purposes, but in both cases, when the ban becomes necessary to guarantee the sustainability of the resource”, the ban can be imposed by decision (order) of the Regional Director of Fisheries.
Taking into account the state of the limpet population, the Region, in agreement with the collectors and traders, will not wait for the closed season (the period in which collecting is prohibited), which begins on November 1st, and, as a transitional rule, determines: “The collection of limpets for commercial purposes and family collection will be suspended from the day following the publication of this Order and until the respective suspension is lifted by order of the Regional Director of Fisheries, in order to immediately preserve the adult individuals still existing in the habitats, thus guaranteeing the reproduction of these species, in the medium and long term.”
Therefore, and as it was published today, the ban on harvesting will be in force from tomorrow and should last until 30 April, the end of the closed season. Given the current shortage, it is not credible that there will be a decision to lift the ban before 1 November, the date on which the closed season begins, which will now last six months.
The new document clearly differentiates commercial harvesting from non-commercial harvesting, defined as family harvesting.
Commercial harvesting is prohibited on weekends and holidays and is limited to 15 kg for individuals and must cease at 2 pm.
Family collection is limited to 3 kg and can only take place on weekends and holidays. “An exception to the provisions of the previous articles (licensing, collector’s card) is the collection of limpets for non-commercial purposes, known as family collection, carried out in land or sea areas, provided that it does not exceed 3 kg/day, and only on non-working days, by an individual.”