In recent years the fisheries around the world have been subject to a big pressure. The continuing demand for food in order to satisfy needing of a growing population has forced the exploitation of fishery resources until unsustainable levels, exceeding the capacity of the oceans to keep the marine life as we know it.
Therefore, it is more necessary than ever to promote and support the responsible management of fisheries at a global level. Specialized organizations in the conservation of the environment such as WWF and Greenpeace have played a decisive role in the awakening of the conscience of citizens to this need and, in collaboration with local authorities and supranational organizations such as FAO, have developed ways of acting that give rise to hope that the future of life on the sea can be preserved for future generations.
We are aware of the threat to the marine environment by the increase in the exploitation of intensive and industrial fishing and therefore, in our activity, we are following the recommendations of the scientific agencies and environmental organizations also taking into account, that by the different interests that take place in this matter (industry, population´s supply, local maritime communities), and the difficulties to know the real situation of the affected fish populations, the criteria to affirm the sustainability of the fisheries are not unanimous in the definition of the levels of exploitation and threats, but there are some points in which we are all in agree:
- Security that all the fish that is processed is coming from controlled fisheries, which means the respect of the rules on minimum sizes, protected species, fishing seasons and catching quotas. In order to apply this principles, we demand that the traceability of the extractive production and entire chain are certified, so, it makes possible to identify the origin of all the fish and the ingredients utilized in the elaboration cycles.
- Use of selective fishing methods. It´s known that the fishing with hook and line and the arts of fence are less harmful than the trawl nets in order to reduce the pressure on the fishing levels and minimize the discards of species or sizes without commercial interest. The fish that we process comes from boats that use traditional and not predatory arts. Thus, the whole tuna that we use is caught with rod, the mackerel and sardines origin is the coastal of the Bay of Biscay or the Galician Firths, similar origin for the seafood produced by the local Fishers´ Associations.
- Support of local fisheries. The consumption of fish from inshore fisheries not only helps in the maintenance of the communities and their traditional ways of life, it also avoids long-distance transportation of goods around half world, and contributes to energy efficiency by reducing the consumption of CO2.