fish

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 Andrés Jiménez 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. Jiménez 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 Jiménez 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| Kawê 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 São 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 São 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 São 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 São 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 poké 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 poké. 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, Alcollarín 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 Túpe -, present at the reservoir and in the Alcollarín 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 Alcollarín. 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 Alcollarín, 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 Alcollarín, 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

The Spaniards eat less and less fish. So the fishmongers are recycling their product … for pets

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In Spain we eat less fish. Much less. And we have more pets. Many more. Life fishmongers are not alien to one or another trend, so they have decided to do A movement quite logical: to make a place in the lucrative, promising and above all growing business of food for pets. After all, if they have already done the large supermarket chains, why can’t your neighborhood fish do? The logic is simple: that the place where you buy fish for you, for your children, couple and other family is also the place where you buy it for your hairy. What happened? That Fedepescathe Spanish Federation that represents businesses dedicated to the sale of fishing products, has just released an original campaign. Original and expected. Monday, during an act held in MadridThe organization presented a campaign to encourage its clients not to take home food for them or their family. He wants them to do it also for their pets. In fact, slogan cannot be clearer: “In the fish market there is also food for your hairy compi!” Fedepesca campaign poster. “For the whole family”. The strategy is well cooked. If the fishmongers are reliable businesses in which to acquire fresh, seafood and frozen fish, why were they also going to be to buy pet packaged foods that fish has as “protagonist ingredient”? Fedepesca itself remember which is something that supermarkets have been doing and would allow traditional fishmongers to become points of sale for “the whole family.” “The initiative aims emphasize. According to EFEAGROthe Federation has begun to introduce packaging food for pets in Madrid by the hand of a wholesaler and there are associations of Seville and Catalonia interested in following their steps. In total Fedepesca brings together near 6.2000 businesses. Reinvent or die. The movement is curious, but not surprising. Although Spain is a country with thousands of kilometers Of coast and a gastronomy linked to the sea, the fishmongers are finding that we eat less and less fish. The Last data The government shows that between April 2024 and last March the consumption of marine products fell 2.7%, a percentage that rises to 4.3% if we speak only of fish. And it is not a timely drop. In 2003 the annual per capita consumption of products related to fishing touched the 27.8 kilosfact that in 2009 even reached touch the 30 kg. In 2023 that indicator had descended until 18.9 And last year he got off 18a negative trend that has no signs of changing in view of the balance of recent months. Given this scenario, fishmongers have opted for new business roads, such as home shipments and Sale of algae… or pet food. More pets. The panorama is very different if we talk about company animals. In fact there are calculations that show your census overcomes to children. Although The data They must be handled cautiously are demolving: a few months ago The country He made a survey Between veterinary schools and concluded that in Spain there are 9.3 million dogs and 1.6 million censored cats. In total 10.8 registered pets. Leaving aside that there are many other species that are used as company animals, the data far exceeds the number of minors registered by the INE. ANFAC, the association that brings together pet food manufacturers, assures That in Spain there are more than 30 million pets, of which about 9.3 are dogs and 5.8 felines. Differences can be explained because not all animals have chip. And an appetizing business. These figures translate into something else: business. More more pets is the market focused on its food and care. ANFAC calculates that the sales volume went from 561,305 tons in 2023 to 573,210 in 2024. And that reflects only the weight. The rise is greater if we talk about billing. Fortune Business INSGIGHT esteem That the world market for pet care reached 259,370 million dollars in 2024 and its forecasts are of clear growth. Their estimates pass through that this year the 273,420 million are already in the beginning of the next decade, the 428,000 million are rubbed. Images | Anusha Barwa (UNSPLASH), Grupo Eroski S.Coop (Flickr) and Fedepesca In Xataka | In Spain there are less and fewer children, so the ice cream industry has launched for a more buoyant market: dogs

The Rocambolesque Idea that is feeding a fish farm in a town in France

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The first men who traveled to the moon during the Apollo missions subsist based on lyophilized food and sweet or salty jelly -coated cubes. The thing has not gone to better over the years. But if the French succeed, astronauts from lunar missions can eat fresh fish. Lubinas raised on the moon. That is the goal of Lunar Hatcha rocambolesco scientific project that is already underway in a fish farm by Palavas-Le-Flots, south of France. The fish that raise in this small center are not any lubins, but the founding generation of the futures “Aquanautas” lunares. Its offspring will travel to space in the form of fertilized eggs in order to establish the first extraterrestrial fish farm. High quality protein. If we are going to establish a permanent base on the moon, what less than to give us the taste of dinner a fresh lubina. The brain behind this project is Cyrille Przybyla, a researcher at the French National Institute for Oceanic Research. “Fish is an excellent source of protein, because it is the animal body that we best digest and contains omega 3 and vitamins B important that astronauts will need to maintain their muscle mass,” Przybyla said to The Guardian. The question, which he poses, is not whether we need it, but “how we can produce these foods at so much distance.” Lunar Hatch. The experiment, financed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Space Studies Center of France (CNES), will send the eggs to the space calculating the time it takes to hatch upon reaching its destination. Although an assigned space flight does not yet have, the idea is to perform the first tests at the International Space Station, assisted by European astronauts in orbit. After observing their development, the eggs would be frozen and returned to the earth for an exhaustive analysis. If the tests are successful, the next step would be to climb the system for a future implementation on the Moon. Not the first fish, yes the first fish. We have already seen fish in space. The first were small Mummichogs in an Apollo mission in 1973. More recently, Cebra fish have helped study muscle atrophy. But this is the first time that the objective is purely gastronomic: create a source of regular and renewable food for astronauts and crew of future lunar and Martian bases. The first space fish. This is not (alone) of nutrition. The true mill of Lunar Hatch is to create a completely closed and self -sufficient ecosystem, without waste, exempt from continuously replenishing food with load flights from Earth to end eating crickets. Everything is recycled within a fish farming system that should be autonomous for at least four or five months. Of course, many “Aquanautas” will be needed. Scientists have calculated that to provide two weekly fish to seven astronauts, about 200 lubins would be needed. Image | Lfremer In Xataka | We have been growing lettuce in space for years. Now we have discovered that they are more likely to get sick

Spain has presumed for decades of consuming more fish than anyone in Europe. Now that has entered into crisis

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Spain is surrounded by almost 8,000 kilometers of coast, it has a profuse cuisine in dishes based on fish and maricos and its fishing sector generates every year tens of thousands of jobs and billions of euros. Not to count on how weird the town (at least in the coastal areas) that does not have a market in which to buy a hake, a golden, trout, mussels or a good fresh lubina. Despite all that, Spain is less and less a country of fish. Its weight on the refrigerators is descending. A lot. And for a long time. A percentage: -4.3%. He last report of the government about fish consumption does not leave good news. In March we Spaniards have bought 2.9% less than during the same month last year, a bad fact that really hides another worst: what has “punctured” really is the consumption of fresh fishing, which has fallen 4.9%. In fact, that percentage has been softened in part due to an increase in frozen fish, which has grown around 4%. The thing does not improve when we expand the focus. If we analyze The last mobile year (from April 2024 to March 2025) The consumption of marine products in general has fallen 2.7% and that of fish in particular 4.3%. The behavior of frozen products during that period was somewhat better than that of fresh merchandise, but still both have lost weight in purchase baskets. The protagonists: cod and gold. The report allows you to go further and take a look at how the different products have responded throughout the last year. And there are some that go particularly poorly stopped. Golden purchases have collapsed 23.5% and mackerel and cod around 21%. In general it has also been a bad year for seafood, molluscs and frozen and fresh crustaceans, although more cooked varieties have been bought. “They click” the preserves and win other products, such as salmon or smoked trout. One question: Is it a punctual fall? No. And that is the big problem. The sector It takes time Seeing how fish consumption falls, which has already taken him to claim to institutions measured to reverse that trend. Under the “fishing products” label enters a range of foods that range from fresh or frozen fish to the seafood or preserves and not all evolve the same, but statistics show that, together, consumption is going back. According to government data, in 2003 the per capita consumption of products related to fishing touched the 27.8 kilos per year And in 2009 he even reached stroke the 30 kg. In 2013 that same data was already in 27.2 kgbefore the pandemic had fallen to 22.5 kgin 2023 marked 18.9 And last year that same average had descended to 17.9. Now the last map report with the March values ​​lead to think that the trend will remain this exercise. A figure: 19 million. Those of the Ministry are not the only data that account for the fall in fish consumption in Spain. In October the statista portal published Another report which reflects the same trend from a somewhat different perspective: that of tons of fish consumed in the whole country. Its tables reflect that if in 2023 consumption amounted to 887.4 million kilos, last year that data had already descended until it was 868.3, which reflects a fall of 19 million In just one year. The consumption curve has been descending since 2009, with a slight rebound in 2020, coinciding with the pandemic. The great unknown: Why do you go down? The million dollar question. And it does not have a simple answer. One of the possible keys is the price. The statistics Officers also show that, on average and in general terms, fresh fish comes out more expensive than meat of the same type. The latest map report also reflects that throughout the last year, between April 2024 and March, the average price of fish -related products had increased 3.5%. The technicians of calculating that in March fresh fish increased 4.9% compared to 2024. Another key: education. Fish is not, however, the only thing that has become more expensive. In recent years he has also done it (and sometimes clearly) The meat. Hence, when explaining the trend It is indicated Often other factors, such as changes in consumption habits, a certain ignorance of the product, the search for more comfortable options or the loss of habit, especially among the youngest, to go to the markets to buy fish. A report On the subject elaborated a few years ago by the Ministry and AECOC in fact identifies four profiles of young people in front of the fish: that of those who reject it flat, who are inclined to other options such as meat, a more “pragmatic” profile that is not willing to invest the time it requires buying and cooking fish and the “distrustful”, with doubts about the origin or conservation. A notice: “It is essential”. With that backdrop a long time ago that the fishing employer demands to institutions that promote fish consumption. In 2023 the Secretary General of Cepesca insisted that it is “essential” to promote healthy eating and support sea food. “We still do not understand why the consumption of fishing products with VAT reduction,” I cried. In his favor the guild has the advice of the health experts, which They advise Eat between three and four rations every week. Images | Grupo Eroski S.Coop (Flickr) and Doğan Alpaslan Demi̇r (Unspash) In Xataka | There is so many demand for fish in China that has opted for drastic measures: two “aircraft carrier” as a hatchery

We finally have Noah’s videos building his ark, Jesus Christ multiplying fish and Eve being tempted. Thanks to the AI, of course

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It has all the meaning of the world: according to the generative IAS They become more and more sophisticatedcontent creators to use and pull social networks are making more and more spectacular videos. And among those who are being applied the most to launch amazing content we have Christian devotees, who are taking advantage of the abilities of artificial intelligence to spread passages from the Bible with an overwhelming realism. Word of God. It is not very clear where the trend began, but it is having a disproportionate reception. At the forefront of these contents are accounts as SECRETOSDELABIBILA0 (more than 500,000 followers) Lokiprosperity (with almost 50,000) or Vlogsbiblia (with more than 30,000), which feedback to each other and parasitate, so it is not very clear where the proverbial eggs and chicken of these contents are. What are they going. The contents are diversified according to the poster, but all coincide in what focuses the profile of ‘Vlogsbiblia’: passages of the Bible recreated with AI and in which the protagonists narrate in the first person and looking to the screen, looking at it as if they were recorded in a mobile. Is not recreated in the ARCA CONSTRUCTION, Daniel in the lions pitthe Multiplication of breads and fishMaria pregnant with JesusJesus Before being crucifiedEva making routines of Skincare In Eden or the same Eva being tempted. In all cases there is a certain sense of humor derived from anachronism and a few harmless jokes at the expense of ICTs Influencers They are surprising, but it is not the only possible approach in this clash between Christianity and generative artificial intelligences. Bible stories. The most popular of these profiles, ‘Lossecretosdelabiblia0’, also recreates with the passages with more traditional planning, such as small films. This also enters beliefs that touch not very traditional Christian teachings: the recipe for A bread that gives immortality And that is in the Bible, the return of Jesus with apocalyptic dyesthe complex angelic mythology, Crazy Giants of four meters in the Old Testament and warnings against the PASCUA EGG PAGANISM. An extensive task of propaganda of faith with videos that reach the seven million views. The sanctification. Undoubtedly, the ‘Los SecretosDeBiblia0’ videos are among the most realistic that have been seen on social networks. They do not allow, evidently, pieces generated by AI, but the relative naturalness of voices and images is a jump with respect to, for example, the first and still grabbed videos of ‘Lokiprosperity’, of simple evangelical advice starring A Jesus emerging between the clouds either asking permission to enter your home. More than enough, in any case to get donations from the target audience of these videos, the same people who believe that the nonsense of AI What do Facebook are real are realand that invariably comment with “blessings” or names of verses. In this last type of videos, which respond to ask how “Are pigs demons?“And they have a marked apocalyptic tone, profiles like ‘focus like’Prophets of Labiblia‘(More than 800,000 followers). Our particular favorite? A video that proposes an unusual cross between evangelization by AI and the tics of influencers that make Jesus, Mary and his disciples in Podcasters. The Christianization of Tiktok. These types of accounts are part of a unique use of social networks by religious currents of great penetration in Spanish -speaking users. We have already talked about profiles that offer an innocent, almost harmless version of Christianity: Bible readers They customize their books, nuns turned into authentic Influencersand a larger scale, groups of Pop music like Hakunawhich manage to add thousands of listeners thanks to the diffusion provided by Tiktok or Instagram style platforms. Hashtags like #christiantiktokwith more than 22 million publications or #JOVENESCRISTIANOSits equivalent in Spanish, with almost five million, are flag bearers of this incursion of the youngest in social redees. Although in the case of these videos generated with AI there is an extra pecuniary component: all profiles link to courses to learn to make digital and evangelizing chrys yourself. Public attentive to all this there are, of course.

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