Artisanal fisheries are characterised by their diversity: its catches belong to multiple species and biological groups. They are also diverse in their setup, organised in loose groups for which it is difficult to coordinate coherent marketing strategies.
Thanks to an EU-supported project, a community of producer associations and professionals in Galicia on Spain’s Atlantic coast is now able to add value to their products, through a joint brand.
The brand PescadeRías ¿de onde se non? (Fisheries, from where else?) is an initiative of the Consellería do Mar de la Xunta de Galicia (the regional maritime affairs government). Its main objective is to promote high quality fish and shellfish from Galicia caught in an artisanal, environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
All the products branded PescadeRías ¿de onde se non? come from the daily catches by the local, small scale fleet, landed in every port of Galicia. When they are sold for the first time, they have been less than 24 hours out of the sea. Moreover, the project has implemented a traceability chain for the PescadeRías ¿de onda se non? branded products. From the moment, when the fish is received by the auctioneers via the retail level until it reaches the final consumer. This provides consumers with a comprehensive report, including information such as the characteristics of the fish or shellfish, weight and the date and area of capture, and an overview of all the agents of the brand through which that product has passed.
The PescadeRías ¿de onde se non? brand not only distinguishes the catches on sale, but the whole value chain from the fishers organisations (Cofradias), the fish markets and first sale places, the distributors, the processing companies and even the restaurants using the products.
One of the most important aspects of this brand is promoting the whole collective of PescadeRías; fishers, processing companies, the restaurants themselves. We want this project to enable local populations to remain in those areas most affected by the lack of economic opportunities. This is a project with an important social dimension, because our objective is to allow these communities to make a living from these resources, sustainably, and in the long term,
says Ramón Fernández Conchas, Chief of Department of Markets of the Consellería do Mar de la Xunta de Galicia.
An important aspect of the PescadeRías ¿de onde se non? project is the awareness-building and promotional effort (which now takes place also through a mobile App), showcasing to society the role that each of the brand partners play in the process that brings fish and shellfish from the sea to the plate. The brand has 429 labelled partners, and has certified 12,265 tonnes of seafood in 2020, for a total of 104,422 tonnes since its inception. EU funding has supported the creation of the brand itself, and its promotion and outreach effort, as well as the training of the project stakeholders and the monitoring of the certification, thus benefitting both consumers and the industry sector.
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Details
- Publication date
- 28 January 2021
- Author
- Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries