Brussels, 18 July 2023
The Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius from Lithuania, and EU fisheries officials have visited the Vigo fish market, the largest in Europe.
The visit took place at 5am, when activity at the fish market is at its peak, with auctions and direct sales of fresh produce recently arrived from Spanish and international ports.
Fisheries officials and EU authorities visited the first sale room for fresh fish, where products from international waters are sold, mainly from Portugal and Mauritania, among other countries, and from the area known as Gran Sol, a fishing ground located in the North Atlantic.
They also visited the second sale room, where mainly products from Galician ports, Portugal and the rest of Spain are traded.
Fishermen, fish market workers and local traders were processing orders for fish and seafood such as monkfish, lobster, squid and barnacles, among many other varieties of fresh produce.
Europe’s biggest fishing port
The Vigo fish market is the most important port for the commercialisation of fish for human consumption on the continent, and is a central point for trading in fish at European and world level.
In the port of Vigo, around 34,000 tonnes of fresh fish were unloaded in 2022, or around 130 tonnes per day, with a turnover of €147 million in fresh fish, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
In addition to fresh fish, this Galician port receives over 500,000 tonnes of frozen fish at its terminals, and around 168,000 tonnes of canned fish pass through its installations.
Source – EU Council Presidency