Photos: Sergio Betancort
The company Pescatron S.L. inaugurated its new facilities in Playa Blanca this Tuesday, a platform for the transformation and commercialization of fish. This event was presided over by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands. The head of that area in the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Antonio Morales, also attended, as well as the mayor of Yaiza, Gladys Acuña, Mercedes Robayna, manager of Aderlan, the business association that has subsidized the project.
Pescatron is a family business run by an expert fisherman and shipowner, Juan Francisco Martín Cabrera, who, after decommissioning his professional fishing boat from the fleet, decided to invest in the purchase of an industrial warehouse, to dedicate all the experience acquired to developing the project of launching a transforming and marketing platform for fresh, frozen and live fish at a regional level, taking advantage of its position in the sector, betting on the direct relationship between the traditional fisherman and the restoration on the island of Lanzarote.
The project has been developed through the financing of Axis 4 (Sustainable Development of Fisheries Areas) of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) of the Lanzarote Coastal Action Group, which is managed by Aderlan. This is a novel mechanism for self-management of grant concessions with greater prominence of the sector to direct development lines at the local level, a model that Europe plans to promote in the future.
The manager of Pescatrón began to materialize the idea of marketing his own fish in 2010, as a freelancer. In view of the success and the increase in demand, he put other sailors on his boats while he distributed and looked for more boats and brotherhoods to buy fish from and open his market. After selling his boat and investing in the purchase of the industrial warehouse, his business has been growing and year after year it has been expanding its borders. Thus, Pescatron not only reaches the different corners of the Canary Islands, but also the peninsula, where it not only exports product but also imports and recently also imports to Africa.
In the opening ceremony, in addition to Quintero, Morales, Acuña and Robayna, who took the floor during the event, also attended councilors of the City Council of Yaiza, members, fishermen, members of the restaurant sector and also clients. The event was managed by D.O Únique Events and La Cascada was in charge of offering catering to all attendees.
