ARCHIVED - Bumper spring for San Pedro del Pinatar prawn fishermen

The spring 2016 catch in the Mar Menor was higher than in the whole of 2015

For many people the main attraction of the Mar Menor, the saltwater lagoon which lies in the east of the Region of Murcia and is almost fully enclosed by the spit of La Manga del Mar Menor, is a water sports playground and an ideal place for safe year-round bathing, but for the fishermen of the town of San Pedro del Pinatar it is also the source of their livelihoods.

One of the main reasons for this is the esteem in which prawns from the Mar Menor are held, the highly salty water giving them a distinctively rich flavour and making them a widely appreciated delicacy all over Spain. Other species are also caught in the lagoon, but there is no doubt that the prawn is the most prized, and the first half of 2016 has been especially productive for those who catch them and sell them in the fishing port of the town. 

According to the local fishermen’s guild in San Pedro, in the first six months of this year a total of 20,581 kilograms of Mar Menor prawns were sold at the “lonja” (fresh fish market), bringing in revenue of approximately 331,000 euros, a new record for the period from January to June. The catch was over double those of the previous two years, and although regulations allow prawn fishing for only one month in spring and another in autumn it has made for a relatively prosperous first half of the year for the fishermen of San Pedro. 

To put the figures into perspective, last year’s prawn sales on the quay in Lo Pagán came to just over 300,000 euros during the entire year, so the successful spring season this year means that the entire 2015 total has already been surpassed. However, the extra supply has meant that market prices were considerably lower than last year for each kilo caught (between 15 and 20 euros), leaving the fishermen content but with the feeling that things could have been even better!

It is almost impossible to keep everyone happy, but of course the main beneficiaries of this spring’s bumper catch have been lovers of seafood. Those with long memories can remember prices of up to 150 euros per kilo, which placed Mar Menor prawns out of the reach of most budgets, but this spring the delicacy was available at relatively accessible prices in bars and restaurants along the shore of the Mar Menor and throughout the Region of Murcia. What’s more, as a result of better freezing and storage conditions, this availability is not restricted to the month in which the prawns were caught.

No-one is exactly sure why the prawns this spring were so numerous and so large (many measured up to 18 centimetres in length, double the minimum size stipulated by regulations), but some of the fishermen point to the higher levels of plankton in the water. Whatever the reason, though, they will now be able to spend some of their earnings on updating their boats in preparation for what they hope will be an equally productive autumn. 

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