Puerto Canil: Artisinal Fishing.

Puerto Canil was the first stop on our second day's itinerary. It's a small fishing port of the area that still uses artisinal methods - either with a hook or with a net. We learned about the life of the fishermen, who go out on their boats starting anywhere at 1am until 6pm depending on where they are going and what type of fish they are hoping to catch. The fish are "sacrificed" as they are immediately put into buckets of ice, where they die from the cold, to maintain the fresh quality. They fish seasonally and alternate the years of which type of fish they catch so that the fish have a chance to grow.

FISH FACES.

Spain, geographically speaking, is the largest fishing country in Europe. Spain joined the EU in 1986, enforcing them to abide by their laws regarding fishing and farming, but the EU has no specific definition for artisinal fishing. The port's "brotherhood" is concerned with the disconnect between the fishing communities and the EU as the fishing community is part of their identity. They believe that Spain should unite Europe, but Europe shouldn't unite Spain - they should work together rather than taking away the local, regional and national Spanish traditions. 

Each port has it's own public fish auction, which we witnessed, where the fish go to local restaurants, fish mongers and occasionally larger national markets, but not usually - most of the fish here, stay local. They are the first project to integrate farming and artisinal fishing and consumers are only able to buy what's available, the fishing is not done to meet consumer's demands. Therefore, their fishing is based on respect: for the envirornment and for sustainability. Normally viewers have to watch the auction from behind windows, but we were allowed to be part of the action. Buyers and fishermen trickled in as crates of caught fish were put into boxes filled with ice and then onto a conveyer belt to be weight, surveyed and bid on. Huge lobsters (33 euro for a kilo and half), silvery eels, octopus with their tentacles clinging for life onto the plastic bucket, red fish, tunas, shark relations, slippery squid, and all types of fish I wouldn't have a clue on being able to name.

the auction. biders above. biding below.

We had lunch at the port with hungry expectations of freshly caught fish. We started with olive oil-marinated and paprika-dashed potatoes with bits of tender and tough octopus marbled mulberry and pearly white. Then we had saffron-yellow paella with mixed seafood: firm bits of rice with shrimp, clams, and mussels mingled in. Lastly was a large platter of fried fish, which I was happy of my allergies to pass on, despite the inclination to want to try the fish cheek and the tapioca sized eyeball.