Artisanal salt production in Aveiro/Portugal - an ecofriendly process

It is, however, possible to generate revenue from salinas at several levels, not merely in terms of good quality salt production, but also by obtaining other products that can be commercialized, or by exploring their potential for tourism, and as research facilities, among others. Furthermore, with an adequate management, biodiversity can be restored to abandoned salinas, which constitute important feeding and breeding grounds for resident and migratory aquatic birds, many of which are protected by European Community Directives.The aims of this manuscript are to present a brief overview on the current state of sea salt exploitation in Portugal and to stress the importance of recovering these salinas for the conservation of this particular environment, for the regional economy, the scientific community and the general public. The Aveiro salina complex is presented in detail, to exemplify salina structure and functioning, as well as current problems and potential solutions for artisanal salinas.Portugal, with its extensive coastline exposed to hot and dry winds and constantly high temperatures during summer, has always shown favourable conditions for the development of salinas that use the renewable eolic and solar energies to produce salt. The country has a privileged geographical situation for salt production, in comparison to other European and even non-European countries [1]. In Portugal, salt production through solar evaporation of sea water was introduced by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC [2] and, during the Roman period, salt must have been intensively exploited, as there are abundant archaeological remains of fish salting settlements in several places in southern Portugal. In the beginning of the 10th century, the exploitation of salt, along the northern coastline, between the Minho and Vouga rivers, was already prospering [3]. In the 12th century, even before the Portuguese maritime expansion, Portuguese salt was regarded as a high-quality product in v