Although Barcelona’s fishing tradition dates back more than 21 centuries, its port today is better known for the bustling movement of merchant vessels, cruise ships and yachts.
It may therefore be surprising to find, almost hidden from the eyes of thousands of tourists and even the locals themselves, the old facilities of Confraria de Pescadors de Barcelona (Barcelona Fisherman’s Guild), alongside the emblematic Clock Quay in the city’s working-class Barceloneta district.
This non-profit corporation has, for almost 70 years, been responsible for the city’s daily supply of fresh fish and seafood, sourced from the nearby waters of the Mediterranean. This currently represents “almost 20 percent of the fish consumed in the metropolitan area,” according to its secretary, Ignasi Olivella. It also has the added responsibility of championing the only productive activity in the primary sector that still lives on in a city almost entirely given over to services.
The guild awaits the implementation of a town plan that will transform the area where the Confraria’s headquarters are located and equip it with a renovated food industry complex. Olivella, who boasts a degree in life sciences as well as great experience in the fields of both research and management — collaborating for years with the Professor of Marine Ecology at the University of Barcelona — affirms that the guild’s presence is guaranteed.
“In recent years, we have been making great efforts to preserve fish quality, with the Q quality mark and the Barceloneta blue fish mark that helps buyers identify our product,” Olivella said. “We also train and provide incentives for our fishermen to treat their catches extremely carefully and hygienically, and work together with local fishmongers to ensure that they respect traceability and offer consumers products in the very best conditions possible.”
Confraria de Pescadors de Barcelona participated in Seafood Barcelona first edition, in October 2012, in order to boost its public profile. According to Olivella, “We are proud to be the first Catalan fishing brotherhood exposing in this international show and we hope to be there again this year.”
2012 saw results similar to those of previous years, confirming Barcelona’s position as Catalonia’s fifth-largest fishing port, with a total catch of over 2 million kg representing a total value of EUR 6 million. Of the more than 200 species fished off Barcelona’s coasts, the sardine was the most important in terms of weight (817,677 kg caught), while the anchovy was the fish that generated the greatest value, EUR 1.5 million.
Among the most prized fish and seafood sold at its market are the red prawn, langoustine, monkfish, hake, common octopus and red mullet. As soon as it reaches dry land, the ultra-fresh catch is auctioned off before some 60 bidders, “the majority regulars, and mainly retailers, though there are some wholesalers and restaurateurs too,” noted Olivella. It is a spectacular procession of between 500 and 2,000 crates, auctioned off against a cacophonous backdrop of incessant shouts, jokes and cell phone calls from those in attendance. According to Paco Blasco, the market head and 39-year guild veteran, “The fishmongers can sell the product at prices up to 70 percent higher that those they pay at auction.”
Some 420 fishermen, many from families with close ties to the sea, are members of the guild, working on the 40 vessels that make up the fishing fleet based in the city’s port — the majority seine, although there are 14 trawlers and 2 minor gear boats. Another 13 people work at the offices and the market. Boat owners are usually brothers or married couples owning one or two boats; very much small, family businesses.
As part of its strategy of adapting in line with new times, the guild also plans to boost its resources by taking advantage of Barcelona’s most profitable industry: tourism. Soon, strolling among the old sea wolves repairing their nets under the sun, witnessing one of the two daily auctions, tasting fresh fish of the day in its modest bar, watching the fleet leaving or returning, and even joining a boat’s crew for a while will soon no longer be experiences limited to a handful of authorized professionals. Pesca Turisme, the Fishing Tourism Program approved in 2012 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (the autonomous government of Catalonia, the Spanish region that encompasses Barcelona), is expected to bring those experiences to the general public.
“The public has a right to know of our ancestral tradition of fishing so, little by little, I hope we can improve our facilities and be able to manage this resource to everyone’s advantage, via sustainable growth,” Olivella said.
