The fish in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands is not only internationally known for its good climate and tourist destination, it is also recognized for being one of the regions with the greatest marine biodiversity on the planet, since under its waters coexist around 700 species of fish and about 1,500 species of molluscs.
The archipelago has been able to materialize this biodiversity industrially, always in a sustainable way, with an industrial fishing sector and a fishing fleet that at the moment is composed of more than 800 fishing boats, where you can differentiate two types of fleet, on the one hand, the trawler-freezer fleet, which is the most important in terms of economy, and is dedicated to the capture of cephalopods (octopus, squid and cuttlefish), as well as sardines, sea bass or “Samas”. These boats have a high technological level, developing their work in waters of Morocco mainly. On the other hand, there is the artisanal and coastal fleet, made in the Canary Islands with small and old boats, and with traditional fishing art that are environmentally friendly, a value that the local inhabitant appreciates.
From the point of view of infrastructure of the sector, the fishing fleet of the Canary Islands and the lovers of the sport fishing, has 58 fishing ports where is remarkable the importance of the ports of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
In addition, the Canaries is one of the autonomous communities that fish most consumes in Spain, because the Canary gastronomy, like many other archipelagos, is based mainly on the products of the sea.
The fish of the Canary Islands are characterized by being of great quality, being the main protagonist the “Vieja”, that is a parrot fish of long body, with rounded tail and great scales and one in the form of “peak of parrot”. Such species, can be consumed and cooked in various ways such as boiled, fried or opened from the back after being sundried. It also can be cooked fish pies with onions and to make pickles. It’s white flesh and softness has an unusual taste, with a great protein value.
Another fish that is very appreciated by the Canary gastronomy is the “Sama”, that can reach up to five kg and can be baked in stewpot or filleted. Just like the “Cherne”, which is the main ingredient of one of the most popular dishes of traditional Canarian gastronomy: the “Sancocho”, that combines the desalted “Cherne” with potato and sweet potato, accompanied by a green or red mojo and “gofio” (toasted wheat flour).
Also noteworthy are the species that are taking root in the Canaries through aquaculture, such as the goldfish, sea bass and sole. The consumption grows year after year due to the protein properties of these species and their taste.
In our restaurant, you can enjoy these and other species fished by the artisanal fleet, depending on the availability of species at any time, since we keep them fresh without going through freezing processes.