The company Lonxanet Directo S.L., a private non-profit entity owned by the Lonxanet Foundation for Sustainable Fishing and the artisanal fishermen’s guilds of Lira, Cedeira, Muxia, Porto do Son, A Coruña and Cangas in Galicia, opened its fish shop to the Madrid public as part of the inauguration of the San Miguel Market.

This inauguration was attended by Ana Leiva and Sonia Castañeda, director of the Biodiversity Foundation and director of International, respectively; Juan Bureu, president of the Slowfood Convivium in Madrid; Susana Rodríguez, general director of Pesqueiro Development of the Ministry of the Sea of the Xunta de Galicia; Agustín Pérez and Juan Manuel Gómez, major patrons of the fishermen’s guilds of Lira and Cedeira respectively; Emilio Louro (Milucho), manager of the Lyre Brotherhood; Pepe Novo, head of marketing of the Cedeira Brotherhood, all of them in A Coruña; María Calvo, director of the Ashoka-Spain Foundation and, on behalf of the company Lonxanet Directo, attended the event by Sandra Rey, manager of Lonxanet Directo S.L., and Miriam Montero, Project Director of the Lonxanet Foundation for Sustainable Fishing.

The added value that the fishmonger of Lonxanet Directo S.L. offers is the possibility of having the guarantee of traceability of the fish and seafood that it will offer to the public of Madrid, mostly from artisanal fishing, which is characterized by the greatest respect for the biodiversity of the marine environment as well as by the promotion of traditional knowledge and fishing methods respectful of the environment and local cultures.

With the opening of this direct point of sale in a place like Madrid, the aim is to find solutions to the main problem of the artisanal fishing sector, such as marketing. Bringing the product of the Galician brotherhoods, and from other parts of Spain, closer to the citizen, transmitting at the same time the values of sustainability and responsible fishing. This risky but determined bet is intended to guarantee the future of fishing communities.

Finally, it should also be noted that the brotherhoods of Lira and Cedeira, participants in the project, have been the first fishermen’s organizations in the entire Spanish State that have opted for the design and creation of two marine reserves of fishing interest in their respective fishing areas with the firm vocation of involving the fishing sector in the sustainability and conservation of the biodiversity of our seas.