Roberto Rodríguez Prieto

He supplies some of the country's best restaurants which accept his conditions - fish in season and same-day catches only - due to the high quality of his produce. 

From a mariner family, Roberto Rodríguez set up Artesáns da Pesca in late 2009 along with biologist Rosa Martínez. The idea was to create an artisan fishing cooperative to support local produce, and show honesty and transparency concerning its origins. His grandfather and his father already tried this before him, with no success, but Roberto ran into biologist Rosa Martínez on a foreign trade course, and together they embarked upon this adventure which has worked well and become a reference for sustainable artisan fishing. 

Most of their catch goes to restaurants all over Spain, many of which are the big names, and although at the outset they had some difficulty in making their associates and customers understand the philosophy of the cooperative, they now appreciate the way they work and treat the product.

The total length of their craft does not exceed 18 metres, and they fish close to the Galician coastline within a radius of 12 miles, using small-scale artisan techniques, or seine-fishing for pelagic species. Minimum sizes, species and restriction periods are sacred.