A technique that is documented for the first time in 1418
When we talk about the xeito, we are talking about one of the oldest fishing arts that are still active in Galicia. Its first known documentary mention dates back to 1418, according to historian Elisa Ferreira Priegue in her study Pesca y economía regional en Galicia, part of the academic monograph La pesca en la Edad Media.
Since that date, the xeito has been present practically without interruption in the fishing activity of the Rías Baixas. And, more surprisingly, its essential form has hardly changed in 600 years. The seafaring sector itself describes it as the only gear that has remained practically unchanged over time.
Today, in 2026, it is still the most selective method for catching Iberian sardines, and is regulated by annual management plans of the Xunta de Galicia.
What exactly is xeito
Xeito is an art of drift gillnetting. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple. It is a rectangular net that is placed vertically in the water and remains floating, attached to the boat by a line. The net neither drags nor closes: it simply waits for the fish to become entangled as they cross it.
The structure has three essential parts:
- A rectangular netting cloth with a mesh calibrated to the exact size of the target species (sardine, mainly).
- An upper trawl equipped with buoys that keep the net floating at the desired depth
- A bottom trawl ballasted with weights that keep the net stretched to the bottom
This configuration – described in similar terms in the Management Plans published annually in the Diario Oficial de Galicia by the Consellería do Mar – is responsible for the xeito being one of the most selective gears in Atlantic fishing. Only fish of the exact size for which the mesh is calibrated enter the net. The smaller ones go through it; the bigger ones bounce back.
Compared to other methods such as purse seine or trawling, xeito catches much smaller volumes, but does so in a very specific way. That is why it is the preferred option when quality over quantity is sought.
85% are sardines
According to the data published in the annual Resolutions of the xeito Management Plan in the DOG -including the Resolution of December 29, 2025 that approved the plan for 2026-, about 85% of the catches obtained with this gear corresponds to sardine. The rest is mainly divided between anchovy and other small pelagics.
The sardine caught al xeito is the well-known Iberian sardine(Sardina pilchardus), belonging to the Iberian-Atlantic stock that ICES zones VIIIc and IXa study scientifically.
How many vessels are left: 412
Xeito fishing is not a massive activity. According to the Management Plan published for 2026 in the DOG, in Galicia there are 412 vessels authorized with this gear in their exploitation permit. Not all of them fish every year: the number of vessels with effective dispatches is usually significantly lower (in 2021, for example, there were 111 vessels out of the 194 authorized that year).
This gives an idea of the real scale of the activity. We are not dealing with an industrial fleet: they are artisanal boats, generally of small size, many belonging to historical fishermen’s guilds such as those of Rianxo, Cambados or A Illa de Arousa.
How fishing is regulated each year
The Consellería do Mar de la Xunta de Galicia publishes every year, by Resolution in the DOG, the Management Plan of the Sardine with xeito gear. This plan is elaborated with the participation of the Federación Galega de Confrarías de Pescadores and the corresponding technical reports, within the framework of the Ley 11/2008 de pesca de Galicia.
The 2026 Plan establishes, among other measures:
- Temporary closures to protect breeding seasons
- Maximum quotas per vessel per day
- Compulsory working and resting hours
- Minimum sizes to be respected
- A quarterly Follow-up Commission made up of the Consellería del Mar and the federations.
In other words, it is not a free fishing. It is an activity managed with scientific criteria and subject to continuous technical control.
The pescadeRías seal and the xeito sardine
The sardine caught al xeito can be certified with the seal pescadeRías ¿de onde se non?, a brand created by the Consellería do Mar in 2008 to differentiate seafood products from the Galician artisanal fleet.
According to official information published by the Xunta, this seal guarantees that the product:
- It comes from the Galician artisanal fleet.
- It has been landed in a Galician port and caught no more than 24 hours before its first sale.
- Caught with selective and marine-friendly gear (trawling is excluded).
- Documented traceability
According to data published by the Xunta de Galicia at the end of 2025, the seal already exceeds 15,000 tons of certified product annually and 510 adhering entities including fish markets, purification plants, distributors, restaurants and processing companies.
Why the sardine from the xeito tastes different
A sardine caught al xeito has three advantages over other forms of fishing:
- Extreme freshness: If it carries pescadeRías, it is unloaded in less than 24 hours. This freshness changes the texture and flavor of the fish.
- Absence of damage in the catch: As there is no dragging or massive entanglement, the sardine arrives whole, without blows or loss of scales. This preserves the quality of the meat for canning.
- Homogeneous size: The selectivity of the mesh ensures that the sardines caught are of similar size and weight. For canning, consistency between pieces is important.
Bongarth and the xeito
The sardines we use in our canned products come from sardines caught by “arte de xeito”. This is not a casual decision: it is a choice that prioritizes the sustainability and quality of the product over the volume of supply. Each can contains a sardine caught under a regulated system, with documented traceability and six centuries of technical tradition behind it. This tradition is not a marketing argument. It is a production system that has worked for 600 years because it makes sense for the ecosystem and for the consumer.
