It is a sunny day on the beach of Malgrat de Mar and bathers are still enjoying the beach in a still hot early autumn, surrounded by stranded wooden boats. The number seven on their license plates identifies them as pleasure boats and, surely, the ones we see in this report in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos are owned by local fishermen who take to the water to practice sport fishing, or in some cases, even being able to furtively earn a living at sea.
These, however, beyond a piece of props for a day at the beach and leisure, are also the symbol of an atavistic way of life, which has structured the existence and economy of hundreds of Catalan coastal towns: traditional fishing.
In Malgrat, in the Maresme region, it is no longer common for professional fishermen to leave their boats on the beach. Their boats are too big to be left on the seashore, and now by order of the General Directorate of Fisheries, the fishing boats are based in the port of Blanes.
Despite this, the town’s fishermen still maintain their small brotherhood to be able to have their own place to work, fix the nets and, also, be in contact with other brotherhoods in the area. “We are so small that we don’t even have a fish market,” describes Jordi Gibernau, a 59-year-old local fisherman and secretary of the brotherhood.
Gibernau has dedicated 43 years of his life to working at sea and is specialized in fishing with traditional methods. Trammel nets, cobwebs or boleros are the tools with which he fishes for sardines, prawns, anchovies, cuttlefish, hake or sole between Malgrat, Blanes, Pineda and Lloret.
Compared to him, there are few people who surpass him in seniority in this profession in the town. But the one who is sure to achieve it is the current president of the brotherhood Josep Fontrodona, 97 years old: “I started when I was thirteen years old and until now,” he declares.
Fontrodona today suffers from a high degree of disability, and this prevents him from returning to the sea. Unfortunately for the old fisherman, the panorama he would find if he went to sea would be very different from what his great-grandfather, his grandfather, his father or himself encountered when he was fishing. Because as is common in the always neglected primary sector, there are several voices that warn of the risk that this world will succumb to the numerous obstacles that threaten it.
In the Malgrat brotherhood they are still resisting, although barely: “The brotherhood survives thanks to charity, but we are holding on,” says Fontrodona. “I think the sector is terrible,” says Gibernau categorically; “There is very little fish,” he adds.
He warns that the scarcity of catches was a long-standing trend, but that it has worsened in the last ten years, and declares that the situation extends to all fishing on the Catalan coast.
And both fishermen affirm that the future forecasts for fishing are not at all rosy for fishing in general, with the exception of some trawlers. All of this is the logical consequence of what the brotherhood considers to be years of uncontrolled overfishing and the late and clumsy application of environmental policies by the Administration.
As they explain, in good times they caught eight times more than what is caught now: “Before we caught a quantity of sole and hake that you thought would never run out. You could catch 80 kilos and now you only catch ten or twelve,” he comments. the secretary of the brotherhood.
The greater number of specimens and the lack of restrictions favored high competitiveness between boats, to fish the largest number of species in the largest possible area. Thus, it was necessary for numerous boats to increase the arc of their nets, to cover more space and in less time. “I remember years ago that there was so much fish that was thrown into the sea because there was no one who wanted to buy it at any price,” confirms Fontrodona.
In turn, many chose to buy more powerful motors in order to deploy larger nets and be able to fish. “For many years I have always said that people did not think about the future of those who come behind,” warns Gibernau.
The conclusion to this fishing frenzy has been the logical drop in catches. And, according to Gibernau, the limitations that the Generalitat has imposed to prevent overfishing arrive late and badly. Among other things, the current restrictions limit the power of the engines and this forces many fishermen to change the mechanisms of their boats again. “And this is worth a fortune, and the Administration does not have the money to provide aid,” the fisherman complains.
In addition, the institutions have also significantly cut other aspects such as annual fishing days, to allow the recovery of marine fauna, given the very high environmental impact of trawling.
Now only 170 days of fishing per year are allowed by law, although it is expected that these will continue to be reduced in the future. Fishermen warn that the continuous reduction in days to fish is depleting their profits, making it increasingly difficult to obtain economic benefits. “There are boats that with 160-day fishing permits are priceless,” reiterates the secretary of the brotherhood.
The sector addresses the difficult balance between business and sustainability with discouragement, although with some ideas to combine both things. One of them is that institutions facilitate greater alternation between different types of fish. For this reason, the brotherhood puts forward the case of tuna fishing and the quota established at 450 kilos.
Tuna consume large quantities of sardines and anchovies as food, species in which many artisanal fishermen specialize. If they could catch more tuna, they could dedicate more time to fishing for this species, and at the same time allow small fish to be less affected by the catches and also by their predators.
Gibernau, however, warns that a real adaptation to needs cannot be made without large sums of money, and to make matters worse, in the economic aspect the fishing sector has another open front on land that compromises its future: Consumption habits .
Gibernau, in addition to being a fisherman, ran a fishmonger for a long time, which he left five years ago. This has made him aware of market trends and he has seen that the marine genre has been losing importance in society’s diet.
Gibernau points out, among other things, that prices have discouraged the inclusion of fish in the diet, both for domestic consumption and in restaurants: “The product here is very expensive.”
Many individuals buy in the supermarket because it is cheaper than doing so at the fishmonger, since if the prices are already high for a person with a normal salary, for a family the product here is too expensive.
Likewise, the sale prices of wild catches make the service sector opt for farmed fish or imported fish from the north: “A sea bream that has been auctioned for 35 euros is therefore unsaleable for many restaurants” , says the secretary. “Restaurants opt for farmed fish because gilthead sea bream cost ten euros,” he continues.
In addition, restaurants and hotels prioritize the purchase of fish such as dentex, shrimp, sole or diamondfish because the demand in restaurants is usually more sybaritic and has no interest in simple fish.
Beyond the question of price, the secretary of the brotherhood also sees the fact that young people have stopped consuming fish as their parents did in the past as a cause of the drop in consumption, and this has resulted in a decrease in prices. sales. “Young people no longer eat fish,” declares the former fishmonger; “Who I saw in the store was mainly older people, there could be 7 or 8 of the regular young people, and they were all around 35 years old,” he adds.
To the declining interest among youth in the marine product, Gibernau, who in the coming years affirms that he will retire, adds the problem of the lack of generational change: “I think that in a few years there will be four left, because there are no young people who wants this sacrificed life, and even more so seeing how the situation is.
One of his sons started in the business, but ended up becoming a plumber to have a more comfortable life. Although he affirms that at first it hurt him that his son left him, he also understands his choice: “I asked the big trawlers that caught small fish, aren’t you ashamed to do this and that tomorrow your children who want to continue, can’t they?”
For his part, Fontrodona is more optimistic, since his children are dedicated to the sea, although it is not possible for them now because they must constantly help him due to his disability. “Families that dedicate themselves to this have their children who are still involved,” she explains; “They take the seafaring skills course in Blanes and move on,” she continues.
Despite everything, the passion for fishing and the sea continues and will continue to govern the lives of both Malgrat fishermen, even in their retirement. For the president of the brotherhood, if it were not for his mobility problems he would go to sea without thinking twice: “If I could walk I would still go, but always secretly because I am retired.”
And, in the case of Gibernau, he proudly states that he chose this life despite having studied banking, on the advice of his mother. Now that he is approaching retirement, he declares that it is “as if something was torn from him.” For this reason, he explains that he always tells his children to take advantage and eat the fish he brings them: “You think that things never end and there comes a time when they do,” he concludes.
