Restaurateurs warn that limiting fishing is a “direct missile” to the coastal economy

Gemma Sánchez Bonel/Vilanova i la Geltrú - The limitation on trawling proposed by the European Union will be a “direct missile” to the coastal economy, according to several restaurateurs from Garraf and Baix Penedès consulted by the ACN before the EU’s early morning agreement. The sector fears that reducing the annual fishing days will compromise their businesses but also “a whole culture and philosophy closely linked to local fish”. Now, the pact will allow fishermen to extend their 27 working days with “sustainable measures, although the sector points out that not all fishermen will be able to apply them. “If a primary sector falls, the way of being of our municipalities falls”, lament the owners, chefs and customers of the Llotja de Vilanova i la Geltrú.

“This problem is a missile that goes directly towards an economic and cultural fabric”, states the head of communication of the La Daurada restaurant in Vilanova, Orlando Palacios, who defends that “gastronomy is also culture and it must be claimed from local Mediterranean fishing”.

And the fact is that fish directly from the market, rice dishes, carpaccios, croquettes or stir-fries with fresh produce mark the menus and menus of most of the first-line restaurants on the coast. This badge, however, can change radically with a limitation of trawling that has as its starting point the 27 days a year and requires more sustainability efforts to expand them. “What am I doing in my restaurant receiving fresh produce only 27 days a year? "Are they going to freeze it for the rest of the day?" asks Toel Falero, chef and owner of the Hibou restaurant in Sitges, indignantly.

This restaurateur emphasizes that the philosophy of his restaurant is based on working directly with small producers and fishermen in the area, and warns that buying fish from fish farms "goes exactly against the essence of the restaurant". These days, due to the fishermen's strike, there are already dishes on the menu that he cannot offer and warns that he will have to change a large part of the current approach if the fishermen cannot work any longer.

A feeling shared by several of his colleagues in the profession who were consulted. "I'm afraid that they will limit our ability to offer quality fish", says the owner of the family restaurant Vell Papiol in Calafell (Baix Penedès), David Vernet. He recalls that in his municipality fishing activity disappeared years ago to be concentrated in the port of Vilanova, and warns that “if in the end the entire primary fishing sector collapses, an entire way of being of the territory will collapse”. “We cannot afford to lose this essence”, he emphasizes.

From Vilanova, the owner of the restaurants Cal Pachurri and La Pepa, Eduard Agell, defines the city as a “balcony facing the Mediterranean” and boasts that he has one of the most important fish markets in Catalonia right next door. “We not only consume the prawns and fresh fish that we offer on the menu from here, but also the essence of the fumet comes from it, which is the perfume that permeates all our rice dishes”, he emphasizes, regretting that cutting back on fishing days will directly affect “the origin” of the gastronomic offer of his restaurants.

These two days of strike have already had to reorient some of the menus, “because the most important thing now is to support the fishing sector and resist, instead of looking for alternatives to fish farms”. “But it is not easy to manage the impact of the lack of product”, he adds.

Nearby, at the restaurant La Gambarrada, owner David Reig is wondering if the lack of product in the run-up to 2025 will force him to change the name of his establishment: “We named it that because we offer rice dishes, croquettes and various dishes made with shrimp and products directly from the fish market”. Reig assures that the success of these proposals lies in two things: proximity and quality, “nothing to do with industrial production”. In fact, he assures that if he cannot offer it on the menu, he will rather set up a shop than introduce fish that is not from the fish market.

Apart from impacting the activity of restaurants, the limitation of trawling days will also have a direct effect on the activity of distributors. This is the case of Ventura Peixos, which supplies product from the Llotja de Vilanova to a large number of restaurateurs in the area and also sells to private individuals. It has a portfolio of more than 200 customers and its owner, Joan Ventura, assures that the approach taken by Europa “does not make any sense for all the businesses that believe in local fish”.