Jaume Carnicer: "This Christmas will be the first time in history that there will be no red prawns from Vilanova in the markets."

Vilanova i la GeltrúI interviewed Jaume Carnicer Mas, head of the Vilanova i la Geltrú Fishermen's Guild (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1974) and a white shrimp and monkfish fisherman, on a Friday morning, a public holiday. Since Mercabarna's market is closed, all the boats are beached. No fishermen. In fact, they haven't worked since the previous day. This is the usual routine. Whenever Mercabarna closes, the port of Vilanova also closes, both on the same day and the day before. "It's normal for it to be this way; we're very close to the largest market of markets, and our main buyers are there," he tells me. We then begin to talk about fishing bans and, above all, fishing quotas. The red prawn, the great star of Vilanova and the MediterraneanDays after the interview, the fishermen learned that the same people remained. fishing days for 2026 compared to 2025, which is 143, and without new ecological measuresIn Catalonia, the amount of red shrimp sold this year (even though the year isn't over yet) is 295,749 kilos, while last year, in 2024, it was 387,560 kilos.

Explain to me how the annual fishing bans work. Do they affect all boats, regardless of the fishing gear they use?

— Yes, and we've already completed all of them this year. The longline nets (for hake) have been in operation for three months. The trawlers (who mainly target shrimp) have been in operation for two and a half months. The purse seine nets (for bluefish) have also been in operation for two and a half months. And those using the cadup, despite it being artisanal fishing, have also had to complete two months. The cadup is the net used for octopus fishing; it's made of clay and might remind you of the shape of a bottle.

Which organizations set the fishing bans?

— The EU, the Ministry of Fisheries, and the Generalitat (the Catalan government), which in this last case has set the closed season for cadup (a type of fish), are involved. The Generalitat only has jurisdiction to set the closed season, the rest period, for artisanal pop fishing.

Red shrimp fishing What is the most important thing for Vilanova's box?

— Economically, yes, but it's not what we catch most in terms of volume. In terms of quantity, Blue fish is the most important product at the Vilanova fish market.So if we're talking about money, the shrimp; if we're talking about volume, the bluefish.

December is one of the peak months of the year for red shrimp and fish in general.

— Only in terms of price, because in terms of volume it's a slow month. There's generally little catch of anything. And if this is the general trend, you have to add the fishing quotas for the trawlers. In the port of Vilanova, there's only one boat that has a few days of shrimp fishing left, which will run out in the second week of December. And that's it.

What do these quotas entail?

— Two years ago the European Union invented this conceptBased on studies by biologists, which established that trawling should have a maximum catch limit, each of our boats in the port of Vilanova, like those in other ports, cannot exceed a legally mandated catch. This regulation was created with little common sense because they've made a single law for the entire Mediterranean. They've treated everyone the same, and, of course, that's not fair because the port of Vilanova has always worked the fewest hours of any fishing vessel in Spain. They can't treat us the same way with a regulation when we can't compete on a level playing field: some boats work eighteen hours a day, while others work eight. And then they impose a law that everyone must follow equally. We've been dealing with this for two years.

What quota allocation has been made?

— We've been doing it by boat, and it turns out that by the first week of December, we'd already exhausted our quota. When we return from the long weekend on December 8th, there will only be one boat left to fish for red shrimp because it has a quota of two hundred kilos. Therefore, between December 9th and 10th, it will have used up its quota, and then there won't be any boats from Vilanova left to go fishing. So, at Christmas, for the first time, there won't be any fresh Vilanova shrimp in any market because we won't have been able to go fishing since the beginning of December. It's absurd to have a quota on shrimp because then all the boats will go fishing for Norway lobster and hake, which will increase in price and, moreover, become overfished. What the boats can't do is not go fishing because they don't have a shrimp quota. Everyone has to earn a living. If you put a limit on one species, the others, which are sensitive, like Norway lobster and hake, will suffer.

Isn't there any possibility that they could give him a few more days of shrimp fishing, that they could increase his quota?

— Yes, it's there. And we're counting on an additional quota of 480 kg [that's what the latest negotiations have shown]. But this represents another two days of fishing. We'll divide the extra 500 kg among six and a half boats. A pittance. So, by Monday, December 15th, it will be over. Quota exhausted. Therefore, this Christmas will be the first time ever that there won't be any Vilanova red prawns in the markets.

Can't he break the rules?

— We're legal, too legal. We won't do it, no. All the new regulations are destroying a sector that's slowly disappearing. In fifteen years, the port of Vilanova has lost half its fishing fleet. Currently, only fifty-two boats remain active, eighteen of which are trawlers, and of these eighteen, seven are dedicated to shrimp fishing.

The Port of Vilanova had always been the third most important in Catalonia.

— And it's still usually like that. The first is always La Ràpita, which is far ahead of us, because prawns and mantis shrimp are very important to them. Then, in second place, are either the Port of Roses or the Port of Tarragona. And in third, Vilanova or Barcelona, or, depending on the year, Roses. The case of La Ràpita is curious because they don't have prawns there, since they're not deep enough to be found, but they make millions from prawns and mantis shrimp. They always have about a five million difference compared to the second port. If La Ràpita reaches a sales volume of fifteen million – and that's why it's in first place – the second port has ten.

I notice you seem a little sad about your job.

— It simply has no future. For one thing, it lacks prestige; young people don't want to dedicate themselves to it. For another, the two traditional fishing methods in Vilanova, trawling (for shrimp) and purse seining (for oily fish), are faltering. And what's more, at the Vilanova port, in the fishermen's guild, there are forty of us working, we have half the fleet we had years ago, but we have more work than ever. Bureaucratic work, which is an overwhelming burden. We have a smaller fishing fleet but more paperwork.

I'm going back to what you mentioned about the changing of the guard at work. In Vilanova, many of the boats are family traditions.

— Yes, that's right. There are families on the boats—fathers, sons, cousins, brothers—and that's normal because you have to love fishing. If you've never experienced it, it's hard to want to get involved. Otherwise, why do we have so many Senegalese in Catalan ports? Because they were fishermen in their hometowns; they love the work, they're passionate about it. I'd say we used to have the same passion they have, but we have less and less of it. The boat owners are fed up because the bureaucracy, the regulations—ultimately, they're making the job boring.

Changing the subject. Why should the fishermen of Sitges, the two active fishermen of Sitges, be the last to sell their catch in the Vilanova box?

— The rules for the Vilanova box were that Vilanova boats entered first, followed by those from Sitges. This was designed for a time when fishing was plentiful, and it wasn't feasible for Sitges fishermen to arrive by car, as they would always get there before those arriving by boat. If they arrived by boat, they followed the same procedure as everyone else: taking a number in order of arrival. But if they arrived by car, they were at the very end.

But if There are only two fishermen left in Sitges., of minor arts, who are they competing with?

— You're right. They don't weigh much. I think if they told me right now, if we were talking, we wouldn't tell them they have to be the last to enter the stands. The regulations were from a time when there were eighty boats in Vilanova and fourteen in Sitges. Back then it made sense because they could always arrive earlier by entering the port by car instead of by boat. You're right that the current restriction doesn't make sense.

Finally, I have two questions, Jaume. The first: is it true that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days for shrimp fishing?

— Yes, because on Mondays and Tuesdays the seabed is stirred up and some fish come out. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, since the seabed has already been stirred up the two days before, that's when the fishing is at its best.

And the second: why do most fishermen cook so well?

— Because we have fresh produce readily available. On the boat, with olive oil, garlic, and a little tomato, we made a base. Then the potato, and finally the fish, cut into pieces. And that's it.