Menorca, fish and identity

Bep Al·lès/Ciutadella - In Menorca, what we eat has never been just food. It has been culture, landscape, economy and identity. That is why it is deeply concerning to see imported salmon gaining ground on our tables while local, fresh and seasonal fish is pushed aside. This is not a matter of personal taste, but of model and of the lack of our own gastronomic culture. Choosing to consume more fish from Menorca and fewer globalised products is a conscious decision with direct consequences for our future as an island.

The traditional Minorcan recipe book, shaped by what the sea and the land provided, is being replaced by a uniform cuisine repeated all over the world. This is not about rejecting gastronomic diversity, but about not losing the thread that connects us to our history. Raor, cuttlefish, red mullet, gerret, ray or forkbeard are not just ingredients: they are collective memory. Supporting local produce means supporting food sovereignty, real sustainability and an economy that remains at home.

However, this commitment also requires brave political decisions. Menorca needs its own fisheries legislation, adapted to the characteristics of small-scale artisanal fishing, with very few trawlers and a level of pressure on resources very different from that of other seas. The current European Union regulations, designed from an Atlantic and industrial logic, do not take into account the uniqueness of our fishing model and, too often, put it at risk.

At the heart of it all are people. Fishermen and fishmongers, essential professions that keep alive the link between the sea and society, are at risk of disappearing due to the lack of generational renewal. Without young people willing to continue, the knowledge accumulated over generations is lost. The profession must be dignified, succession and regulations facilitated, the trade promoted, and people made aware that consuming local fish is also a way of defending them.

Menorca cannot afford to lose its fishing, its cuisine or its people. The island’s future is also decided on the plate. And we are still in time.