The protocol will last five years and will serve to deeply analyse the value chain of the Catalan fishing sector.
The Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) of Barcelona and the Gremi de Peixaters de Catalunya have signed a collaboration agreement to deepen the study of the fishing sector economy. The protocol will last five years and will serve to deeply analyze the value chain of the Catalan fishing sector, with special emphasis on the economic interests of fishmongers and the conservation of the marine environment.
"We want to better understand the role of fishmongers in the fish commercialization process and their relationship with fisheries management," explains the ICM-CSIC researcher Miquel Ortega, who is part of the monitoring committee of the agreement.
For his part, the Gremi de Peixaters president, Àlex Goñi, emphasizes that " the agreement will help us to generate high quality information that will be of interest to our members, customers and all the value chain actors".
By signing this agreement, the ICM-CSIC demonstrates its social commitment and its determination to contribute to improve the situation of the fishing sector through the knowledge transfer.
Work plan
The agreement contemplates the realization, in the next five years, of reports and activities related to the promotion of the results of the research carried out.
The work plan foreseen for this first year includes the realization, by the ICM-CSIC researchers, of a study on the sale of fish of Mediterranean origin in fishmongers' shops in Catalonia based on data provided by the Gremi de Peixaters members.
This document will include, among others, the list of species of Mediterranean origin most sold in fishmongers, the profile of buyers and the main barriers to their marketing. It will also analyse the role played by fishmongers when buying fish at the fish market.
"These reports will help us understand how to improve fisheries management and ensure that fishmongers are well informed and able to make decisions based on the best available science," says ICM-CSIC researcher Marta Coll, who is also part of the monitoring committee of the agreement.
The signing of the agreement is part of the project "Improving scientific-technical knowledge for the sustainability of demersal fisheries in the western Mediterranean", funded by the Next Generation funds (Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan) of the European Union and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) through an agreement with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO).