This summer, on the counters of Catalan fishmongers, one of the most prized fish of this time of year is missing. It is the sonso, a very small fish, about 10 centimeters long, which is fished from the end of winter until autumn. This year, however, the 26 boats of Catalan sonso fishermen have barely found any catches and, in the last week of June, they already declared the season over. They have moored the boats because it was not profitable to set sail every morning and they hope to resume activity next year, expecting the situation to improve.

The sonso is one of the most prized fish on the Costa Brava. Very small in size, around 10 centimeters long, it is usually served floured and fried. An excellent tapa to whet the appetite, the kind you just keep eating, present in many of the seafood restaurants and bars in Catalonia. In recent years, however, sonso catches have fallen significantly on the Catalan coast and, from the Generalitat, at the behest of the European Union, a management plan has been drawn up that regulates catch limits and long closed seasons during autumn and winter.