We can make puns, like "We think with our heads when we want to cook fish" or "Let's be sensible about food waste," but, if we get serious, the reality is that the word sustainability This technique is put into practice if we cook the head and, ultimately, all the parts of a fish beyond the loin, which is the usual fare on restaurant menus. Since cooking the eyes can be difficult, we seek advice from the best. In our house, Chef Fabio Gambirasi, from the Agreste Mar restaurant (inside the Serras Hotel), always has on the menu the dish called Head and tailBut he only prepares it on the days that the two fish suppliers he works with bring him fresh fish and large garments.

Anisakis, a parasite found in fish and cephalopods, has caused health problems for many people, especially as the consumption of raw fish has increased in Spain. Besides digestive problems, fever, and other symptoms, anisakis has another consequence, though not as serious: the need to freeze the fish to ensure the parasite is killed. This obviously affects the taste and texture of the fish. But a new machine could eliminate this parasite as a problem. At the Madrid Fusión congress, a prototype, invented by the University of Zaragoza, was presented that kills anisakis without the need to freeze the fish, allowing it to be eaten with all its properties intact.

The Manresa brothers, Carlos (Barceloneta, 1958) and Òscar (Barceloneta, 1962), know the neighborhood where the Altamar restaurant is located very well. They were born and raised there. in Barceloneta, on the Paseo Nacional, as they and many neighbors call it, on the Paseo de Borbó.When the opportunity arose to run the Altamar restaurant, they jumped at the chance. "It has the best panoramic view of Barcelona from the sea," they say, pointing from the windows, which also overlook the swimming pools of the Club Natació Atlètic-Barceloneta. It's certainly hard to argue with that. The restaurant is located at the top of the seventy-meter tower from which the red cable car cabins depart, connecting Barceloneta with Montjuïc. To get there, you have to take an elevator that slowly ascends the hillside. The restaurant's entrance is just a few steps beyond where the cable car departs, crossing the sea and arriving in ten minutes at the other end of the city.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has allocated 13 additional fishing days to the Mediterranean trawling fleet to guarantee its activity until the end of the year and ensure the supply of fish and seafood for the upcoming Christmas season, the ministry announced. This comes after a shortage of fishing days due to quotas set by the European Union. This raised fears of a shortage of fish and seafood in Catalonia. During the holidays.

The Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food, Òscar Ordeig, stated this Wednesday that shops and restaurants could face fish shortages during the Christmas holidays if the European Commission does not authorize additional working days for Catalan fishermen. European regulations allow fishermen a maximum number of fishing days per year. In the case of Catalonia, if this quota is not increased, fishermen will have to remain in port during the final weeks of 2025 because they will have already used up all their allotted days, meaning they will be unable to supply shops during the Christmas season, one of the peak periods for fish and seafood consumption. Ordeig explained that the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Costas Kadis, has committed to allowing fishermen to go out to sea more days this year, but the exact number has not yet been specified. In an interview on SER radio, Ordeig stated that there will "obviously" be a shortage of fish if Brussels ultimately does not allow fishermen to work more days. The regional minister reiterated his criticism of the European Union's fisheries policy, which, in his opinion, is pushing many professionals in the Catalan fishing sector to abandon the activity. One of the Catalan government's main complaints about the EU's fisheries policy is that it is "rigid" and, furthermore, equates fishing in the Atlantic, which is much more industrialized and uses very large vessels owned by major companies, with fishing in the Mediterranean—especially in Catalonia, Spain, and Italy—which is more traditional and where fishermen often form small groups. Clash with Brussels

The Catalan government, like the Spanish government and most regional governments, has opposed the latest proposal from the European Commission, which cut the fishing quota for trawlers in the Mediterranean by 79% and proposed that vessels only go to sea for 20 to 29 days per year. The Spanish government formed a common front with Italy and France to prevent the approval of this legislation, but Brussels temporarily backtracked and authorized that boats that had implemented a series of environmental and energy efficiency measures could fish for 130 days, as in 2024.

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It's Tuesday, it's eleven in the morning, and on the Portlligat breakwater, under a green awning, the fishermen Josep Lluís García Jaén (Córdoba, 1962) and Samuel Mir (Sant Cugat del Vallès, 1987) They are standing, cleaning the trammel nets, the small-scale fishing nets. They remove rocks and pieces of starfish that have become snagged; the nets must be clean so they can be used again. Sitting in a chair, helping them with the nets, is Benido Descamps Mallol (Cadaqués, 1936), a retired fisherman, wise, polite, with a brilliant memory, who tells Samu all the memories he has from the time he used to go out to sea. "I've been through all kinds of things in these areas of Cap de Creus when I was fishing," says Benido. As they clean the nets, they place them in black baskets. They'll have them ready for the afternoon, when they'll go to cast them into the sea, and the next day they'll collect them.

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We are in Cambrils, a town with a very high gastronomic standard. For example, there is the restaurant Hiu, by Sergi Palacín, which comes from one of the most reputable restaurants in Bangkok. Or Can Bosch, which has had a Michelin star for forty years (forty, eh!). And of the many places I could recommend, today we'll stop at the Sea dog

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"Kresala has a name linked to the Basque culture. Translated it would be saltpeter, but from a more mystical perspective, it also signifies the fusion between man and the sea. It speaks of the people who struggle every day at sea to earn a living and that white cloud of protection that covers them. Because the Cantabrian Sea is a wild sea. Basque culture has always been focused on the sea. They arrived in the Americas before Columbus. They were whalers. And cod. The salty foam of kresala It would be like a pagan god." This is explained by Iñaki López de Viñaspre, chef and founder of Sagardi Group, in the restaurant they have opened on the Gastronomic Balcony of Port Olímpic and which is named after the protector made of saltpeter: Kresala.

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Albert Camus said that wars are too stupid to last, but they always end up lasting because stupidity insists and wins. Throughout history, humanity has seen conflicts of all types and in almost every corner of the planet. However, probably one of the most bizarre ones took place during the second half of the 20th century between Iceland and the United Kingdom. The reason for the dispute was cod. On three occasions (in 1958, in 1972 and in 1975), Reykjavik and London clashed over the rights to catch this fish in the waters of the North Atlantic. Only one death was recorded - that of an Icelandic engineer in 1973 - but there were countless violent skirmishes that left iconic images, such as a British navy ship intentionally crashing into an Icelandic navy ship.

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