With the aim of training the fishing sector and analyzing the opportunities offered by marine tourism and fishing tourism, several skippers and representatives of fishermen's associations of Lanzarote visited Palma de Mallorca on September 5 and 6, within a global project called "Marine Tourism, Training and exchange of experiences".
The delegation from Lanzarote visited the representatives of Pescaturismo, a Mallorcan company that has been developing these activities on the island since 2016, and was received by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Balearic Government and by the General Director of Fisheries, Joan Mercant. The head of the company Pescaturismo, José Martínez, also attended the meeting.
The General Director of Fisheries, Joan Mercant, explained to the Canary Islands delegation that what is intended is that "the fisherman does not have to increase the fishing effort to increase his salary, as well as diversify the tourism sector." In addition, according to the fishermen's associations of Lanzarote, he stated that this activity helps to learn about the traditions and fish of the place and encourages its consumption.
According to data provided by the Ministry of the Sea, the first year of activity in Palma, in 2016, there were four excursions with 20 people; in 2017 a total of 160 excursions with 371 people; in 2018 a total of 285 excursions and 800 people; and in 2019, until the month of July, 184 excursions with 458 people had already been carried out. "The forecast for the whole year is to reach approximately 1,600 people in total and make more than 300 excursions, and thus double the figures of last year," it is pointed out, explaining that today there are 40 fishing boats that offer this type of excursion.
Training workshops
During the visit, two training workshops were held to learn about the conditions for obtaining the authorization from the Maritime Authority to carry out fishing tourism activities and on the commercialization of fishing tourism excursions by Pepe Martínez, CEO of Pescaturismo.
They also visited the smaller craft boats that carry out the activity on the island and a practical informative workshop was carried out with the artisanal fishermen on the content of the excursion.
The project is promoted by the Fishermen's Association of Playa Blanca and financed through the Participatory Local Development Strategy of the Maritime and Fisheries Sector of the island of Lanzarote, within the framework of the Operational Program of the European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Association for Rural Development of the island of Lanzarote (Aderlan).
