In this article you’ll discover the history of cod fishing in Portugal and how this fish has become a fundamental element in the country’s culture and gastronomy.
Cod in Portugal: history and importance
The history of cod in Portugal, goes back to the 14th century, when the Portuguese and the English exchanged salt for cod.
Cod fishing by the Portuguese in ‘Terra Nova’ began in the 16th century. It is believed that in an attempt to discover the sea route to India by sailing westwards, the Portuguese discovered ‘Terra Nova’ and its abundant cod banks.
However, Portuguese cod fishing in “Terra Nova” was short-lived. Harassed by English and French pirates, Portugal was forced to withdraw and only returned to fishing in the area in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Until the 19th century, it was generally eaten by the entire population, although more so by the nobility and clergy. Cod served as an alternative food when the Church prohibited meat consumption, as during Lent. Additionally, its ease of preservation allowed people to consume it in the interior.
However, it was during the Estado Novo regime, between 1930 and 1970, that cod achieved the status of “Faithful Friend” of the Portuguese people.
Estado Novo and the Consolidation of Cod as the ‘Faithful Friend”
The widespread consumption of cod began in the 1920s and became a plan during the Estado Novo regime. Until then, Portugal imported most of the cod it consumed. Fishing in Portugal was generally disorganized and irregular, there was little investment and it was highly taxed.
In an attempt to counteract external dependency, Salazar centralised the organisation of cod fishing in the state. The regime ensured a cheap and disciplined workforce through compulsory recruitment from the so-called fishermen’s houses. It also provided funding for boats and owners, fixed prices and restricted imports.
In this context, the Cod Campaign was established in 1934. Its primary goal was to cut down on cod imports and secure the nation’s food supply.
The Cod Campaigns and the Cod Fleet
Cod Campaigns began between April and May and lasted an average of six months. The cod fleet, consisted mainly of sailing boats and semi-motorised sailboats. They set off from Lisbon (Belém), where they were blessed with a solemn mass and a big party.
During the Second World War, the world’s fishing fleets were at a standstill, except for the Portuguese fleet. The Portuguese fishing fleet painted their ships white, with their name and nationality clearly displayed, and became known as the “White Fleet”. The cod trawlers painted their hulls black, also emphasising their national name and flag, as an affirmation of their neutrality.
Line Fishing
The Portuguese cod fishermen adopted line fishing. This practice was carried out aboard dories, small wooden boats manned by one man. Equipped with a sail and a pair of oars, the dories circled the mother ship. The fishermen received the boats randomly and then modified them to suit their needs.
The day began at 4am with the first meal of the day, a hot lunch, followed by a cold meal in the dory. After throwing the doris overboard, they would move several hundred metres away from the mother ship. Then they would cast a line made up of hundreds of baited hooks and pull the cod into the dory. They would return around 3pm or when the dory was full.
It was hard and dangerous work. On the high seas, the fishermen faced strong winds, intense swells and fog. There was also the constant risk of collision with icebergs. Without a fixed salary, which depended on the amount of fish caught, the fishermen often ignored safety limits. As a result, the doris were overloaded with too much cargo, resulting in shipwrecks that cost them their lives.
But the day’s work didn’t end there. Once the cod had been caught, it had to be scaled and salted. It was only when the whole process was complete that the fishermen would call it a day, knowing that the following day they would all have to start all over again.
Living conditions on board were precarious, with poor hygiene and health. The work was intensive and almost inhuman, with working hours of up to 20 hours. The only moments of respite came when the ships stopped to refuel at St John’s harbour. On these occasions, the fishermen took the opportunity to bathe and receive the long-awaited letters and parcels sent by their families.
The Revolution of 1974
Line fishing was a dangerous and outdated method, and the Portuguese were the only ones to do it at the time. The other European countries had been using trawlers to catch cod since the end of the 19th century, when the first British trawler was launched. Portugal’s first trawler appeared in 1936. Between 1948 and 1953 there was a sharp increase in the number of cod trawlers. However, their numbers never reached adequate levels.
The 1974 revolution put an end to cod fishing by line. At the time, most of the fleet was on campaign. Decades of repression and precarious working conditions led to protests that ended this type of fishing, which no other country did because it was inefficient and dangerous.
The decline of the cod fishing industry was due to a combination of delays in modernising the cod fleet, overfishing and the implementation of international legislation restricting open access to the sea.
The Decline of Portugal’s Cod Fishery
The first signs of overfishing began to appear towards the end of the 1950s.
In 1958, the Convention on the Law of the Sea allowed countries to claim up to 12 nautical miles as an exclusive maritime zone. Canada applied this in 1970 and Denmark followed suit in Greenland in 1973, restricting the Portuguese from accessing traditional fishing grounds. In 1992, Canada banned bottom fishing from its shores.
Portugal became a member of the European Community in 1986. This brought it into the Common Fisheries Policy and forced it to accept its restrictions. Between 1990 and 1998, Portugal lost more than 30 vessels, reducing its fleet by more than 70 per cent.
However, the Portuguese have not stopped eating cod and remain the world’s biggest consumers. It continues to be part of the Portuguese cuisine, forming part of numerous traditional dishes.
At present, the Portuguese fleet supplies only 2% of the country’s cod consumption. The rest is imported from Norway, Iceland and Canada. Portugal has never been self-sufficient in cod. Even in the heyday of cod fishing, in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, Portugal imported cod.
Heritage and Memory of the Fishermen of the Faina Maior
The life of the fishermen on the big job was a daily epic, written with sweat, salt and bravery, that deserves to be remembered.
The Santo André Ship Museum offers a unique experience for those who want to learn more about the fishermen who once made the biggest catch. It is located 7 kilometres from the city of Aveiro, near the Oudinot Garden in Gafanha da Nazaré. This museum ship is an important testimony to that period and to the lifestyle of the brave fishermen. By exploring the compartments of the old cod boat, from bow to stern, you can better understand how fishing was carried out in those days.
The Ílhavo Maritime Museum houses an extensive collection of objects related to fishing, shipping and shipbuilding, as well as a cod aquarium, the centrepiece of the museum.