Do you know the white shrimp? It is that small one, larger than the plump one, which until about ten years ago was from the south, from Andalusia, and was prepared breaded, fried, and eaten as a tapa or as an appetizer. And how good! Well, the white shrimp is now Catalan, we can say it that way. Meridionalization, the scientific term that explains the phenomenon, has caused species from the south to move north, where they seek suitable temperatures to live and reproduce. And the fact is that in our country the white shrimp has found them. Miquel Mir, patron mayor of the fishermen's guild of the port of Palamós, assures that during the months of March and April each boat has caught 200 kilos per day this year.Marine scientist Anna Bozzano explains that white shrimp has always been traditional to Andalusia. "It used to be found in the west of the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar, and the resulting cuisine was battered and fried," and it was eaten whole. Since white shrimp needs a higher sea temperature to live, it has moved north, where it has been found. "If it's comfortable there, then it can reproduce more," and hence the large quantity caught by boats from Catalan ports. In the markets, it is a shrimp that is well-received, and in homes, it is easy to cook and eat. Furthermore, the price is usually low, so we have all the arguments to understand its good acceptance: abundance and low price.

Where do they live?

The boats that fish for red shrimp are the ones that go the furthest and return to port the latest, because they have to go very far out to cast their trawls and catch them. They are fished throughout the Mediterranean, although in recent years it has been said that, due to ocean currents and climate change, they might have spread to other seas. However, the red shrimp has only one homeland: the Mediterranean.

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I 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.

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Trawling is the main fishing method used by the Catalan fleet, responsible for most of the fish and shellfish that reach fish markets in Spain. However, of the approximately 190 trawlers in Catalan ports, 80% are currently moored, unable to set sail each morning. These are dozens of boats that are not putting to sea because, a month and a half before the end of the year, they have exhausted their quotas. quota days set by the European CommissionOr they have very few left and are rationing them until the end of the year to extend the season as much as possible before the Christmas season. All of this has left hundreds of sailors unemployed and the skippers without income on land. Faced with this situation, the sector feels suffocated by quota regulations, fishing bans, and restrictions, and complains that the numbers simply don't add up for them to continue in the profession.

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