fish

the secret so that cheese doesn’t taste like fish

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You go to a store to buy a refrigerator and see that, in addition to having very different prices, one of them has a double cold circuit. You choose the cheapest one without taking into account that with the most expensive one your food may taste better. Why is this happening? Today we are going to explain How traditional refrigerators differ from Twin Cooling refrigerators. How a traditional refrigerator works Traditional refrigerators operate through a closed refrigeration cycle. The main objective is to extract heat to the outsideand it does so through two condensation and evaporation coils respectively, which are tubes through which the refrigerant fluid circulates. These two coils are placed between a compressor and an expansion valve. To understand it, in the traditional system the dry and cold air from the freezer is mixed with that from the refrigerator. It is, so to speak, as if it were a single lung for two bodies, which causes odors to mix, there to be no optimal humidity and the engine to turn on regardless of whether we open the freezer or refrigerator compartment. To understand it, the refrigerant fluid travels through the condensation coil to the expansion valve, thus reducing its pressure and temperature. This process causes the liquid to evaporate when it reaches the second evaporation coil, which, as you can already imagine, evaporates the fluid until it reaches the condenser in the form of a gas. In this section, the condenser provides energy to the gas so that it can flow, increasing the pressure to become liquid again so that the heat goes outside through the walls of the condenser tube. As a summarythe cycle through which the refrigerant fluid travels is: condensation coil, expansion valve, evaporation coil and compressor and compressor tubes. This cycle is constant until the refrigerator temperature reaches what we have set on the thermostat. Refrigerators with freezers work in a very similar way. The refrigerant fluid travels first to the freezer areaand once it has reached the desired temperature it travels to the refrigerator area. The compressor ensures that the refrigerator has a different temperature, stopping the fluid before reaching the refrigerator area if the temperature is the same as what we have on the thermostat. How a refrigerator with a double cooling circuit works Refrigerators with a double cold circuit work in a very similar way, but they have a fairly big difference: instead of having one circuit, they have two. To clarify, the fact that it has two circuits does not mean that they consume more electricity, since it is quite the opposite because they are usually more efficient. Because? By having two independent circuits, the engine work is less because it cools only the freezer or the refrigerator, and not both. If, for example, you open the refrigerator in a traditional refrigerator, the cooling fluid has to travel through the entire circuit, while in a refrigerator with a double cooling circuit the fluid travels only through the refrigerator and not through the freezer. And it is not the only advantage. These refrigerators with double cold circuit are especially interesting so that food odors do not mix placed in the refrigerator and freezer. This also means that the moisture collected from the refrigerator does not reach the freezer, thus obtaining a drier area and better preserved food. And, be careful, this is important, since with a double circuit the humidity stays where it should be, making the tomatoes stay fresh for twice as long. Of course, just because a refrigerator is No Frost does not mean it is good. Almost all modern refrigerators are No Frost, but the single circuit one is a ‘Total No Frost’ that dehydrates the food. The double circuit ones are a ‘Smart No Frost’. Furthermore, the fact that a refrigerator has a double circuit means that, in most cases, it can be attractive for when we go on vacation. And this is because you can turn off only the refrigerator part while leaving the freezer part on. And this represents savings. The good and the bad of both options, face to face Refrigerator (traditional) Refrigerator (double cold circuit) THE GOOD 🟢 They are more economical and require less maintenance in the long term. It maintains higher humidity in the refrigerator, does not mix odors and is usually more energy efficient. THE BAD đź”´ Odors can mix, food can dry out, and it is more difficult to maintain constant humidity and temperature. They are more expensive and usually require more maintenance in the long term. Ideal for: Tight budgets and for families of one or two people. Prevent odors from mixing and for families of three or more people. In summary: 👉 Choose a traditional refrigerator if: You are a person who lives alone or in a family of two people or you are looking for a refrigerator that does not increase too much in price. 👉 Choose a refrigerator with a double cold circuit: You are looking for a better flavor in food or you live at home with two or more people. Recommended models Traditional refrigerator: Hisense RB372N4AWE The Hisense RB372N4AWE is a 292-liter refrigerator with a single cold circuit that is interesting because it has a technology that means that if you leave the yogurt at the bottom it will not freeze or if you have the milk on the door it will not stay warm, the temperature is uniform in every corner. Also It comes with micro perforations to inject cold air into each shelf of the refrigeratorpreserving food better, and with technology Total No Frost to prevent frost from forming in the freezer. In addition, this refrigerator includes a fruit and vegetable drawer that allows you to control the humidity to keep food fresh and comes with a vacation mode so that it operates at a constant temperature of 15ÂşC, which can save energy. As a curiosity, its door is reversible, so you can choose to open it to the left … Read more

China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish

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The East China Sea is one of the more sensitive scenarios of the strategic balance in Asia for decades. territorial disputes, historical rivalries and the growing weight of new powers have turned these waters into a space where every movement is observed with a magnifying glass. There, apparently minor gestures usually fit into dynamic much deeperand China has just made a move. The diplomatic fuse. Japan’s detention of a chinese fishing boat within its exclusive economic zone, about 170 kilometers from Nagasaki, has rekindled a relationship already deteriorated between Tokyo and Beijing, with a certain island as a backdrop. He captain’s arrestafter refusing an inspection, occurs in a context of growing dispute marked by Japanese statements on Taiwan and the subsequent Chinese warnings its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan. Therefore, it is not an isolated episode, but rather the visible spark of a maritime tension that had been building for weeks. Images from space. AIS system data and the images by satellite show unprecedented concentrations of up to 2,000 fishing boats Chinese aligned near the median line between the two countries in the East China Sea. The formations, hundreds of kilometers long and with vessels separated by less than 500 meters, remained more than 24 hours in static positions despite adverse weather conditions. In other words, China was concentrating thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not exactly to fish. The maritime militia and the “gray zone”. They counted on Nikkei that the vast majority of these fishing vessels are part of the so-called chinese maritime militiaa civil network that cooperates with the State and the Army in operations that do not reach the threshold of armed conflict. A priori, this strategy allows pressure to be exerted without formally deploying naval forces, thus making a direct response difficult. In other words, as we count A few weeks ago, what was presented as economic activity could become a test of maritime control or even the interruption of trade routes in the first island chain. Taiwan as a backdrop. Impossible to ignore it. The maneuvers coincide with statements by the Japanese government warning that a crisis in the Taiwan Strait would be an existential threat for Japan. Beijing, for its part, considers the island part of its territory and does not rule out the use of forcewhile Tokyo reinforces its deterrent posture. In this context, each movement in the East China Sea takes on a meaning that goes beyond fishing and is integrated into the regional strategic calculation. A pattern of sustained pressure. Furthermore, the activity is not limited to civil fleets. I remembered the Guardian that the Chinese coast guard has broken presence records around to the Senkaku Islandsalso known as Diaoyu in China, and has released images of patrols in disputed waters for the first time. Plus: the Liaoning aircraft carrier has expanded its radius of operations near Okinawa, while Beijing advances infrastructure on its side of the maritime median line. More than boats, an essay. Analysts interpret these concentrations like exercises of mobilization and coordination within the civil-military fusion plan promoted by Beijing. There is no doubt, the capacity of gather thousands of boats civilians at a strategic point in a short time sends a fairly clear message about the possibility of, for example, saturating maritime spaces without openly resorting to force. In this way, the pulse is no longer so much or only bilateral, but rather a warning to the entire region: China is perfecting tools to shape the balance of the Indo-Pacific, and it is doing so without firing a single shot. Image | Planet Labs, Marine Traffic, Anna Frodesiak, Micromesistius In Xataka | China’s best weapon doesn’t fire a single bullet: 300km ‘moving wall’ to close sea routes instantly In Xataka | China has turned deep-sea salmon farming into an engineering feat. This state-of-the-art boat proves it

For thousands of years, human beings have avoided crossing the Taklamakan Desert. Now China is raising fish there

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For more than 1,500 years, the merchants who traveled the Silk Road dared with oceans, mountains and jungles, they dared with endless walks, with warlords, with hunger and pain and the cold; with one of the most destructive epidemics in history; but they did not dare with the Taklamakan. That sand hell (whose name comes from the word ugiur for “abandon, leave alone, leave behind”) is not only the second largest dune desert in the world, but it moved, invaded and devoured everything around it. It’s been a nightmare for thousands of years. Well, now, China is farming fish right there. As? As it sounds, Xinjiang has been committed to producing fish and seafood “in the middle of the desert” for years. And no, obviously, it has nothing to do with “releasing fish in the sand” as if it were worms from Arrakis. The key is saline-alkaline water, lined ponds and recirculation techniques. It is not a revolutionary approach (already We have talked about similar techniques), but without a doubt Chinese producers are taking it to another level. Xinjiang aquaculture production was 196,500 tons in 2024. And, of course, the “desert seafood” boom raises questions about water, energy and scalability. From the promise of fresh fish… We are talking about a very harsh physical context (annual rainfall of less than 100 mm, very high evaporation and salinized soils): thus, the entire Tarim sub-basin depends on melting snow to provide water. Therefore, on the table, there are two clear approaches: the first, which has become popular in the Westtalks about the construction of monitored ponds. And this is already, in itself, very effective: “species such as grouper, mullet, shrimp, oysters and pearl musselsyes reach commercial size with survival rates close to 99%”, always according to the available data. But that’s just the beginning; just a proof of concept. …to the promise of mar. As explained by several chinese mediathe final horizon of the project is much more ambitious: creating a sea in the middle of the desert. That is, take advantage of the water associated with saline-alkaline soils and saline lakes to simulate marine conditions with technical adjustments, circulation systems and cultivation of microorganisms. And thus be able to breed species normally linked to the sea. But can that be done? Of course you can. We have the technology to do it. In a world where aquaculture already exceeds extractive fishing in volume, the interesting question is not that: the question is whether the model is scalable without aggravating tensions over water in a hyper-arid region dependent on snowmelt. What the industry that sees tons of fish emerging from the desert is asking is something even more basic: is it possible that the beginning of the end of commercial fishing is beginning? Image | On Magnet | China is exporting millions of shrimp with antibiotics to the world. And they could end up on your table

We have been fighting with fish bones for centuries. China just won the war with molecular scissors

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For fish lovers, carpin (gibel carp) has historically been a culinary paradox: a meat appreciated for its tender texture and its rich protein profile, but a real challenge for the diner due to its more than 80 “Y”-shaped intermuscular spines (IBs). This inconvenience has caused countless incidents in cafeterias and visits to the emergency room, but now China has made a radical decision: rewrite the DNA of the species to adapt it to our needs. The “Zhongke No. 6”. The research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), led by academician Gui Jianfang, has announced success of the creation of a new variety called “Zhongke No. 6”. Unlike other scientific advances that remain in the laboratory, this specimen is a variety specifically designed to reach consumers’ tables and transform the aquaculture industry. Molecular surgery at the embryonic level. The key to success lies in a “surgical attack” on the fish’s genome. Scientists identified the gene runx2b as the “architect” responsible for giving the order to the fish’s body to develop those 80 pesky spines. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, described by researchers Like “molecular scissors,” they cut this specific genetic code during the embryonic stage. The process has proven to be of unprecedented precision. The main skeleton of the crucian carp – spine and ribs – develops completely normally, allowing the fish to grow, swim and stay healthy. However, the biological pathway that activates intramuscular spines, the ones that really get in the way of eating, do not develop. A six-year challenge: From the laboratory to production. Although the announcement of “Zhongke No. 6” is recent, the journey began years ago. According to the scientific journal Aquaculturethe seminal study that demonstrated the viability of these spineless mutants was originally published in early 2023. That initial work was the result of a six-year systematic effort under the CAS strategic program called “Design and Creation of Precision Seeds.” This project is especially complex because the crucian carp is hexaploid (it has six sets of chromosomes), which forced Gui Jianfang’s team to simultaneously edit all copies of the genes involved to ensure that not a single spine appeared in the new generations. More than an easy-to-eat fish. “Zhongke No. 6” has not only been emptied of thorns; has been optimized for industrial efficiency. According to published technical data, this variety presents accelerated growth since it reaches “commercial size” in less time than wild varieties. Additionally, it is designed to survive in dense, intensive aquaculture environments, where diseases often decimate production. Finally, it requires significantly less feed to produce the same amount of protein, reducing costs and the environmental impact of feed. The limit of the natural. However, this scientific advance places us before an uncomfortable mirror. As official sources conclude from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this milestone represents a triumph of applied science that solves an ancient problem, transforming a difficult-to-eat fish into an efficient and safe source of protein. But, from a more critical perspective, an inevitable question arises: by optimizing every stroke of life for our comfort, what are we losing along the way? If we keep editing species so that they grow faster, are more resilient, and have no natural “defects,” we will reach a point where we won’t really know what we are eating. “Zhongke No. 6” is undoubtedly an engineering miracle, but it is also a reminder that the line between nature and the factory is increasingly thin. Image | Needpix Xataka | All the fish we eat are contaminated by methylmercury. But there are only four specific ones to avoid

The most farmed animal on the planet is not chickens, pigs, cows or fish: it is prawns.

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Christmas is a time of carols, millions of led lightsnougats, empachos and a particular culinary ‘lore’ in which prawns and prawns are not usually missing. If tomorrow you have the opportunity to taste them during New Year’s Eve dinner, think about the following: what you have before you, on the plate, They are unique animals for humanity. And they are for a very simple reason. There is no other species that we raise more massively, not even chickens. There are those who estimate that approximately 51% of all animals What we have on ‘farms’ are precisely decapods, especially prawns. Prawns galore. If these days (lucky you) you have the opportunity to enjoy a good tray of prawns you should know a couple of things. The first one there are two typesdepending on their origin: there are wild prawns, caught in the ocean and the coasts; and those from aquaculture, which come from specialized farms and play a crucial role to supply the market. These fish farms are also interesting for another reason: they represent the largest farms in the world, at least if we are based on the number of living animals they contain. There are many (many) more breeding animals in them than in farms specializing in chickens, pigs, cows or even insects and fish. Click on the image to go to the tweet. But are there so many? This is what he suggests a study from 2023 that a few months ago rescued in Asterisk Magazine AndrĂ©s JimĂ©nez Zorrilla, former investment expert and co-founder of Shrimp Welfare Project (SWP), an organization dedicated precisely to promoting more ethical decapod breeding practices. The report estimates that the planet’s fish farms usually host around 230 billion of these creatures at any given time. To be more precise, between 150,000 and 370,000 million, which exceeds any other known farm animal estimate. Even, the authors clarify, insects. “440 billion (300-620 billion) farmed shrimp are slaughtered each year, far exceeding the number of the most numerous farmed vertebrates used for food production, such as fish and chickens,” specify the articlesigned by Daniela R. Waldhorn and Elisa Autric and published in August 2023 by Rethink Priorites. The photo is completed with the specimens that arrive our months from fishing at sea. Are there more figures? Yes. And they are striking. Although both authors acknowledge that today there is only “partial data”, there are studies that indicate that every year hundreds of thousands of decapods are grown in fish farms on the planet, especially prawns and shrimp, which represent more than 80% of the total. In their report (in English) Waldhorn and Autric generally speak of “shrimp”but when delving into the problems surrounding the aquaculture of these species, both authors provide some extra detail. For example, when listing the species with the highest number of deaths, they specifically cite the P. vannamei and P. monodon. The most correct In Spanish it is to speak of “prawns”, rather than “prawns”. A percentage: 51%. The figures for the aquaculture industry are overwhelming, but they are better understood when compared to those of other sectors dedicated to raising animals in captivity for consumption. JimĂ©nez Zorrilla points out that, in generalregardless of the moment, prawns represent 51% of the total number of animals raised on farms. They are followed at a considerable distance by fish (23%), insects (19%), chickens (7%) and pigs and other livestock (< 1%). Translated into figures, this means that compared to the 230 billion shrimp and prawns that (on average) live in fish farms, there are ‘only’ 779 million pigs and 1.55 billion cattle, 33 billion chickens and 125 billion farmed fish. In case the data were not clear in itself, the activist points out that every year 440,000 million of these decapods are slaughtered for consumption, “more than four times the number of humans who have walked the Earth.” Why is it important? Because JimĂ©nez Zorrilla, like Wadhorn and Austric in their day, do not limit themselves to probing the size of the industry. Its objective is not so much to answer the question of how many shrimp live in the world’s farmers as to draw attention to the conditions in which they develop. “The problem is larger in scale than that of insect farming, fishing or any vertebrate for human consumption,” researchers warn. “If these animals are sentient, current commercial practices pose serious welfare risks during cultivation, handling, sale and slaughter.” Image| KawĂŞ Rodrigues (Unsplash) Via | DAP In Xataka | Prawns, prawns, shrimp, prawns and carabineros: how they differ and which ones are better

Millennials are terrified of ordering fish

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“Give me a quarter and a half of clams and that horse mackerel that has such bright eyes.” I will never utter that phrase, which my mother or my grandmother (non-generic feminine) could have said. Neither me, nor my sister nor surely anyone of my generation. We are millennials and we do not make such a thorough diagnosis of the condition of a fish that we probably would not know how to recognize without a label. Mercadona knows it and has made a move: since this year has changed its fishmongering system to leave behind, or at least reduce it to a minimum, the traditional display of fresh fish from the market at customer demand to increase the presence of its packaged and ready-to-go products. The company explains that fish consumption is in free fall with at least a 20% decrease and that with this change they seek to offer a simpler, faster and more comfortable experience for the customer, by avoiding queues and waiting. Although it is not specified, this change also implies reducing the presence of staff, streamlining sales, simplifying supply and logistics processes and raising the unit prices of the fish: it does not cost the same to order a sea bream as it does a couple of packaged sea bream fillets. This migration, which began in 2024 and which they already did previously with the butcher shop, represents an adaptation to consumer habits where the purchase of the finished product prevails over the classic display. Different, but in line with your bet for ready-to-eat dishes. Leaving aside the obvious benefits of the change for Juan Roig’s supermarket chain, there is a reality: there are compelling reasons for it to work. Another fishmonger system for new clients with other habits The new generations are illiterate when it comes to fish and meat. Thus, we have lost species- or part-specific terms (from the flank or neck of fish to the stifle of beef) for something much more generic like “fillets for the oven.” But it is not strange either: with some exceptions, we prefer ready-made parts to dealing with the entire animal. It is worth remembering that viral video of a young man disgusted and nauseated by having to clean a chicken. However, this applies more to meat than to fish, where historically in the fishmonger it falls apart to then be able to use that hake in its entirety: the head for a broth, the tail for the oven… In any case, the gutted, boneless and perfectly arranged appearance on a tray feels much more aseptic. Between one thing and another, we don’t know what to ask for: this tiktoker account How because of “not knowing how much to order I ended up buying 25 euros of hake“. Other She directly appears looking at the butcher shop counter with the same scared face that cows look at the train and the phrase “My biggest fear as a semi-adult: not knowing how to buy in a butcher shop.” In the answers, someone says that he did not know that salmon was sold by the piece: “I ordered a salmon thinking it was a kilo, he gave me the whole salmon (€64). How embarrassed I was I didn’t tell him anything and I took him away“. And yet another talks about ordering 50 grams of cheese at the delicatessen and leaving with all the shame and the only slice in the package. Of course, all the ingredients are in place for bulk personalized attention to disappear in the fishmonger, as long as there is a professional advising on which cut to buy based on what you were going to cook or what species is in season, these are increasingly less frequent scenarios and will disappear as the old generations give way to the new ones in the supermarkets. Mercadona has already anticipated its landing. In Xataka | Mercadona has eaten up its competition in Spain thanks to a recipe as successful as leonine: 3.88% In Xataka | Fish is mired in a historic crisis in Spain. And there is a reason: he is increasingly successful at leisure than at home Cover | Mercadona and Jeremiah Lazo

“prehistoric fish with armored teeth does not exist, it cannot harm you.” The prehistoric fish with armored teeth:

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“If you had been in Cleveland 360 million years ago, you would be swimming for your life,” said Rachael Funnel a few days ago and the truth is that he is absolutely right in the world. Not only because, at that time, the area in which the North American city is located was a shallow ocean, but because in those waters there was an exceptionally bizarre bug. Welcome to the world of Dunkleosteus terrelli. The fact that? In essence, a predator measuring more than four meters very different from any fish alive today. Although, to tell the truth, they were also different from any fish from 360 million years ago. And why are we talking about this now? Because it was just published a study in Anatomical Record in which the best preserved remains of the species (preserved for millions of years in layers of black shale) have been analyzed. And honestly, what they found is a little scary. They have been able to analyze in detail the bone plates that ‘armored’ the head and trunk of these fish. Furthermore, by analyzing muscle inserts and bone canals, they have unraveled the functional characteristics of the jaw, showing that, in short, we are facing a terrible predator. But ‘terrible’ in the literal sense. To begin with, because D. Terrelli It did not have teeth in the conventional sense: they had large blades of bone that worked with enormous blades that captured and tore apart everything they caught. To continue, because it is one of the first examples of the existence of a specific jaw muscle. The science of sea monsters. He Dunkleosteus terrelli is not news to us: “the last important work that examined in detail the mandibular anatomy of Dunkleosteus was published in 1932, when the anatomy of arthrodirans was still little known”, remembered Russell Engelmanprincipal investigator. For years (for decades!), we have been content to put bones back together correctly and that has prevented us from fully understanding what was happening. For example, not understanding the functionality of these creatures has prevented us from understanding many fundamental characteristics of sharks from an evolutionary point of view. In the end, behind all those bone plates, there was a huge amount of cartilage. That is to say, once again, the world of monsters hides many interesting things to understand natural history. Something that, although it may not seem like it, we still need. Image | Nell Conway In Xataka | We have found two prehistoric sea monsters in the largest cave in the world after 325 million years

In 2001, a yacht took refuge on a remote island in the Atlantic. Days later its inhabitants breaded fish with coca

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To the island of Sao Miguelthe largest and most populated of the Azores archipelago, is known as the ‘Green Island’ for its lush meadows. In 2001, however, the most appropriate thing was to refer to it as the white island. In one of those pirouettes of destiny that usually inspire Netflix scriptwriters (and in this case that’s how it was) began to arrive on the coasts of SĂŁo Miguel, more specifically on those of the freguesia of Fish Taildozens and dozens of uncut bales of cocaine of extraordinary purity. The Atlantic brought them by surprise and without anyone in Rabo de Peixe being able to explain very well why or where they came from. What there is little doubt about more than 20 years later is that that episode changed history of the island. Not only because Rabo de Peixe was forever associated with surrealist images (it is counted that on the island there were families who they breaded mackerel with cocaine instead of flour), but for the mark it has left on a population of humble fishermen in which until then white powder was a luxury available to an elitist minority. Twenty-four years later, his story is back in the news thanks to streaming. Netflix has just released a new documentary about that episode, ‘White Tide: The surreal story of Rabo de Peixe’a launch that coincides with the premiere of the second season of a series inspired by the same event, the successful ‘Rabo de Peixe’. A drifting sailboat The Azores are a paradise on earth, but even the greatest of paradises can turn into hell. Antonino Quinzi saw this for himself at the beginning of June 2001, while steering a yacht of 12 meters across the Atlantic towards Spain. Although he was an experienced sailor and had recently completed the Canary Islands-Venezuela route, near the Azores he was surprised by a strong storm that damaged his ship’s rudder and threatened to set him adrift. Faced with such a panorama, Quinzi decided to postpone his original plan, which was to sail back from Venezuela to Spain, and seek refuge in some discreet cove of SĂŁo Miguel. The word ‘discreet’ is not a minor nuance. To the residents of the parish of Pilar da Bretanha who saw how his yacht appeared on the horizon and sought shelter among the cliffs, Quinzi it seemed to them one more amateur sailor. One of the many sailboat owners who set out to sail the ocean without enough boards and end up finding themselves in trouble. In this case they were wrong. Quinzi was a hard-working Sicilian navigator and if he seemed to be stumbling along the coast of SĂŁo Miguel it was because he was actually looking for a secluded place in which to hide the cargo he was transporting. On board his yacht, in addition to food and everything necessary for his long voyage, he hid hundreds and hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Venezuela. How many? Officially there is talk of half tonalthough there are those who remember that the ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and it would be strange for the Sicilian to embark on its ocean voyage without taking advantage of that cargo capacity. The fact is that Quinzi needed to reach a port where he could repair his yacht, but for obvious reasons he could not do so with the holds full of bales. To get out of trouble he decided to get rid of drugs. Some versions they count who used a boat to take part of the load to a cave, but had to abort the mission when he was surprised by some fishermen. Whether or not it is true, the fact is that to get rid of a large part of his cargo, Quinzi chose to another more radical solution. A wave of bundles Which? After ensuring that the bales would not be damaged by water, he placed them in fishing nets and then lowered them off the coast with the help of heavy chains and an anchor. Once he finished the task, he set sail towards the port of Rabo de Peixea humble and discreet fishing town located just over 20 kilometers from where he had hidden the shipment. The plan seemed perfect, if it weren’t for the fact that the same waves that had forced Quinzi to seek shelter ended up destroying the net that hid the coca bales. The result: dozens and dozens of packages began to emerge and the waves dragged them towards the coast. Guardian account how the first official notice was recorded on June 7, 2001, just one day after Quinzi’s yacht was seen lurking around the cliffs. While walking through a cove, a local came across a large black plastic sheet that hid what looked like dozens of packed bricks. He notified the police, who soon found that there were 270 bales that weighed nearly 300 kilos. Over the next few days, the authorities received similar notices from people who found bundles while walking along the coast. It is said that in just two weeks the agents seized more than 400 kg of drugs, which is not a bad balance if you take into account that the police estimated that the total shipment It was around 500 kg. But… And the rest? And above all, was the yacht actually transporting more drugs, as one of the Portuguese journalists who covered the event suspects? “The ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and no one would cross the Atlantic with only a small part of what it can carry,” argues Nuno Mendes, a reporter who traveled from Lisbon to cover the news. There was more or less drug, almost a hundred kilos or many more, what seems evident is that most of that unseized cocaine ended up in the hands of the inhabitants of SĂŁo Miguel, where they barely live. 140,000 people. The focus is placed above all on the population of Rabo de Peixe, one … Read more

Spaniards eat much less fish than 30 years ago and a big reason is on the horizon: laziness in cooking it.

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The data is clear. Fish consumption has been going on for decades losing ground in the refrigerators and kitchens of Spanish homes. We eat less and less, which is already noticeable in the sector, with the loss of thousands of fishmongers. There are, however, certain businesses that seem to be weathering the storm and even your sales increaseand they achieve it basically thanks to a different bet, focused on the sale of ready-to-eat fish, online orders and home delivery. It is interesting because this reveals to us that the great fish crisis may not be so much a question of taste as much as it is a question of habits and cultural change. What has happened? That fish is not immune to the social and consumer changes that have been affecting the food industry for years. Only in his case the trend is especially interesting. Sector data has long shown that Spanish households buy less and less fresh fish, which among other things has precipitated the closure of thousands of fishmongersbusinesses that deal with other challenges, such as the lack of generational change. There are clues, however, that in reality not the entire sector is suffering. We Spaniards today may have less fish in our refrigerators or cook it less than our parents or grandparents, but the consumption associated with leisure, the away from homeis not having a bad time. Not only that. There are certain specialized businesses (such as those dedicated to the sale of ready-to-eat fish or home delivery) that they assure be selling more. Do we eat less fish? If we base ourselves on the data Regarding domestic consumption from the Ministry of Food (MAPA), the answer is clear: yes, with fluctuations. His latest reportwith data for the year from August 2024 to July 2025, shows that the consumption of fishing products has decreased by 2.1%. If we talk specifically about the purchase of fish (not counting shellfish or preserves) the puncture has been 4.4%, 5.4% in the case of fresh merchandise. They may not seem like big declines, but the crisis facing fish is better understood when the temporal focus is expanded and per capita consumption data is analyzed. In that case, a collapse is confirmed that has hit the sector squarely. own Fedepesca warns that in recent years “local businesses in general and fishmongers in particular have lost a third of their stores.” Does all consumption fall? Not quite. Recently we told you how there are certain species that have seen their consumption rebound (in the case of smoked salmon and trout) and above all how fish consumption seems to be resisting and even increasing outside the home. This is suggested by the “extradomestic consumption” report of Mercasawhich in 2023 saw a rebound of 2.6%. The last ones quarterly data They also show an increase in the demand for fish. The truth is that for years it has been easier to find establishments and even chains that serve pokĂ© dishes with salmon, sushi, sashimi or ceviche, in addition to the traditional fish offering. Year Per capita consumption of fish products (kg) Per capita consumption of fish (kg) fresh fish frozen fish 1990 30.4 19 13.6 5.4 1995 29.4 18.2 14.6 3.6 2000 24.32 14.45 11.72 2.73 2005 28.36 16.40 13.39 3.01 2010 27.3 15.38 12.05 3.33 2015 25.9 14.46 11.64 2.82 2020 24.83 13.25 10.58 2.68 2024 17.99 9.31 7.31 2 And on other channels? A few days ago the SER published an analysis which gives clues to other business avenues that seem to be weathering or even saving themselves from the decline in fresh fish consumption: businesses dedicated to the marketing of ready-to-eat foods and those focused on home delivery. That is, those that facilitate and personalize consumption. There is not much data, but SER provides two specific examples that help understand the phenomenon. The first is the Catalan supermarket chain Plusfreshwhich offers customers the option of taking home ready-to-eat fish. The company claims that they have installed ovens in all their establishments, which has allowed them to considerably increase sales of seafood products. “Five years ago, 8% of the fish we invoiced went through the oven, today it is around 16%. In these five years we have doubled the sale of these products,” precise. He is not the only one walking in that direction. In your line “ready to eat”Mercadona has included salmon and sushi pokĂ©. Are there more examples? Yes. The SER cites another case: Peix a Casaan online fishmonger that allows you to schedule deliveries and that has gone from selling a few boxes of fish a week to managing between 100 and 150 orders each day. Its owner explains that a decade and a half ago began to bet on the fish delivery service, a formula that it hasn’t gone bad: From working with fifteen well-known clients, we have gone on to dispatch thousands and thousands of annual orders with an enviable year-on-year growth rate of around 20%. Why’s that? Because the sector suspects that the problem is not that fish is no longer liked or that it has become too expensive. In fact, in the last year, domestic demand for smoked salmon and canned clams and mussels has increased. considerably. The key would be something else: a cultural change that prevents younger people from buying and preparing fish at home. “We have a special focus on the young public, those people up to forty years old, who we have seen are not having access to seafood. For us it is a key audience,” recognize from Pesca de España. It won’t be easy because in the background there is a larger trend: a growing interest in cooked and ready-to-eat food, which has even led some (among them Juan Roig) to predict the end of traditional kitchens at home. Images | Jorge Franganillo (Flickr) In Xataka | A Japanese restaurant has taken its obsession with fresh fish to the extreme: it lets you catch it yourself

The government emptied a reservoir in Cáceres to eradicate an invading fish. The remedy was worse than the disease

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Just eight months ago, AlcollarĂ­n dressed in gala. This small town of Cáceres, with just over 300 neighbors, was presented at the International Tourism Fair of Madrid as a privileged corner to observe birds, throw the cane or walk next to its reservoir, blue mirror in the middle of the pasture. Today, the postcard has completely changed. Where the water was shone before, now a lodazal splashed from dead fish is extended. The air, loaded with a sour smell, reaches the streets of the town. The neighbors speak of “ecological disaster” and look unbelieved towards the dam, while from the Guadiana Hydrographic Confederation defend that the operation was “of vital importance” to protect the future of the basin. The operation that changed everything. The Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the CHG, He started a plan To eradicate the invasive species Pseudorasbora Parva —An known as Chinese fish or Gobio de Boca TĂşpe -, present at the reservoir and in the AlcollarĂ­n River since 2010. Included in the Spanish catalog of invading exotic species and in the European regulation of worrying species for the EU, its control is a legal obligation to prevent its propagation. The plan included months of bearsques with specialized ships and, as a final phase, a “controlled” emptying of the dam to facilitate the capture of specimens. As reported by the CHGthe reservoir was 100 % of its capacity – 50 cubic hectometers, equivalent to 50,000 million liters – before starting the operation. The problem, like They have denounced neighbors and associations to the newspaper Extremadurais that the emptying caused the downstream release of thousands of copies, expanding the species towards the Ruecas and Guadiana rivers. The enemy in the waters of AlcollarĂ­n. The Pseudorasbora Parva He arrived in Europe around 1960 and has expanded to more than 30 countries, mainly by introductions linked to aquaculture. In Spain, it was first detected in the Ebro basin in 2002 and, since then, it has colonized sections of Catalonia, Andalusia, Madrid and Extremadura. In the case of AlcollarĂ­n, the species was detected in 2010 and, According to the mitecoits density in the reservoir had reached levels that made its complete eradication technically. Even so, the CHG He defended that it was urgent Reduce its population to avoid dispersion towards new channels, especially before the connection planned with the Orellana Canal, and ensure that the reservoir could be used for irrigation and recreational activities “in accordance with current legislation.” Of the catastrophe control. The contract, awarded in June 2024 to the engineering company and technical designs SAU for 787,861.99 euros (without taxes), included several phases of analysis of the pisco fauna, installation of metal containment barriers to avoid leaks, extraction of native species and elimination of invasors, and the controlled emptying of the reservoir. However, According to neighbors and groups such as the Fund for the Defense of Natural and Cultural Heritage of Extremadura (Fondenex)the procedure did not come out as planned. The Captured downstreams overflowed in the critical and “hundreds of thousands” phases of invading specimens escaped towards the wheel and the Guadiana. The drastic drop of the water level, added to the high temperatures, also caused the death of numerous native species, including the barbo, cataloged as vulnerable. The shores were filled with decomposition fish, aquatic birds abandoned the area and the local economy lost, suddenly, a key resource for nature tourism. Crossing accusations. The CHG argues that the operation was planned and executed under the supervision of a “multidisciplinary team of biologists, ambientologists and highly qualified engineers”, As the newspaper has detailedand recognize only a “punctual mortality of Barbos.” He affirms that most native specimens were rescued during previous beings. On the other hand, Fondenex has described in the same medium the action of “ecological nonsense” and accuses the CHG of “manifest negligence” for emptying the reservoir in the middle of summer, without providing urgent uses of water, such as fire extinguishing, and without assessing the impact on protected birds in the Zepa Llanos de Zorita. The group has requested environmental reports and does not rule out file a complaint with the courts. In addition, the neighbors have denounced that “the only positive aspects that a reservoir” have been charged and question the use of “massive and non -selective” methods prohibited by the Nature Conservation Law. Forecasts Once the presence of Pseudorasbora Parvathe CHG plans to reintroduce native species with the collaboration of the Board of Extremadura and maintain barriers and controls in future unwins. However, environmental groups warn that the ecological and tourist recovery of the reservoir will take years, and that the invading fish is already present in sections of the wheels and the Guadiana where it had not arrived before. An open question. In AlcollarĂ­n, official versions and citizen perceptions diverge radically: for administration, it is a necessary technical operation; For many neighbors, of an “environmental catastrophe” that has multiplied the problem. Beyond the specific case, the episode raises a dilemma that transcends Extremadura: what environmental and social cost are we willing to assume to stop a biological invasion when total eradication is practically impossible? Image | Chgguadiana and B. Schoenmakers Xataka | Water restrictions return in the northwest. It is the logical conclusion of a trend that comes from afar

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