This issue celebrates the Portuguese fishermen who fished cod in the North Atlantic, usually in Newfoundland, from the 15th to the mid-20th century. They would sail in schooners or barquentines, like the Gazela Primeiro, to the fish banks and then handline the fish from dories with one or two fishermen each. The men prepared and salted the cod on the ships, so that it would be preserved until their return to Portugal. Conditions were harsh in the North Atlantic and many fishermen lost their lives.
The availability and ease of preservation made dried salted cod (bacalhau) an inexpensive and convenient ingredient to resort to, especially on Fridays and religious festivals, when consumption of meat was prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. Bacalhau became a staple of Portuguese gastronomy, and hundreds of recipes were developed.
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- Fisherman on dory
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- Fishing barquentine
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- Dories on mother ship
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- Fisherman on dory
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- Fishing barquentine
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- Fishing schooner
The stamps were designed by Luiz Duran and issued on 24 June 2000. The Mint, in Lisbon, lithographed on enamelled paper 60 thousand miniature sheets with the set and, on sheets of 5×10 stamps, 1 million stamps of 52$00, 500 thousand copies of each 100$00 stamp, and 250 thousand stamps of each remaining value. The stamps have perforation 12×12½.
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