The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Natural Environment, together with Aquicultura Balear, donates 5,000 sea bass to eight social organizations in Mallorca

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Natural Environment, through the Institute for Agri-Food and Fisheries Research and Training (IRFAP) and the General Directorate of Agri-Food Quality and Local Produce, together with the company Aquicultura Balear (Cooke España group), today donated 5,000 sea bass to eight social organizations in Mallorca. The sea bass, which have been raised at the facilities of the IRFAP-LIMIA Marine Research and Aquaculture Laboratory, located in the port of Andratx, have been placed in 1,000 boxes with ice at the center of the Andratx Fishermen's Association.

The 5,000 specimens, each weighing approximately one kilo, began distribution today among the eight social organizations in Mallorca that have chosen to join the project. They are the Fundació Monti-sion Solidària; the Mallorca Food Bank Foundation; Càritas Diocesana de Mallorca; the Mallorca Sense Fam association; SOS Mamas Baleares; Ebenezer Maranata; the Associació de Veïns Bons Aires-Arxiduc; and the Barceló Foundation.

In addition to representatives of the social organizations, the event was attended by the Mayor of Andratx, Estefanía Gonzalvo; the General Director of Agri-Food Quality and Local Produce, Joan Llabrés; the General Director of Fisheries, Antoni M. Grau; the Manager of the IRFAP (Spanish Agricultural Research Institute), Georgina Brunet; the Director of Production for Aquicultura Balear (Balearic Aquaculture), Alberto Morente; as well as staff from the Andratx Fishermen's Association and the IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), who also participated in the work of this initiative.

In this regard, the Director General of Agri-Food Quality and Local Produce emphasized that "thanks to this project, which includes the collaboration and coordination of various entities, many families, who in this case are the ones most in need, can have a healthy, fresh, and high-quality product like sea bass on their tables. We are very proud to support initiatives like this."

It is worth noting that the company Aquicultura Balear is responsible for donating the fish, and the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Natural Environment is responsible for the fishing costs, management, and logistics. In addition, the Andratx Fishermen's Association also collaborates with the harvesting of the sea bass and provides its facilities, where part of the fish is stored.

The project, which is being carried out at the IRFAP-LIMIA facilities and whose main objective is to improve the productivity of farmed sea bass with different commercial diets, is co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), thanks to a collaboration agreement between the IRFAP and Aquicultura Balear.