Write: Santi Llinares. Director of Large Products
It has always been fished Red tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) in the Mediterranean and especially in the delta of the ebro. Any mouth of a mighty river brings a quantity of phytoplankton that consume fish. In turn these will be food for the precious Red tuna from the Mediterranean.
This fishing is part of the culture of the delta as the five generations that have preceded Manel Balfegó and Pere-Vicent Balfegó. They have been the architects of the production of Red tuna sustainably in l´Ametlla de Mar (Tarragona).
This is the Balfegó bluefin tuna
El Red tuna It is a migratory species from the Mediterranean to the coasts of Mexico. Due to the great distance, the species does not carry out this migration until four years after being born.
About us Balfego She has been a visionary and studying all this and after doing the fishing and fencing they met an Australian businessman. He told them about what began to be the technique that he has currently developed Balfego.
The diet of tunas consists of fresh fish
Today tunas breed in these large circles or pools two and a half miles from the coast. They are not removed until the tuna it is nine years old, weighs more than a hundred kilos and has reproduced four or five times. What makes this technique sustainable for the species.
The feeding of the tuna it is made up solely of the same fish that you would get if it were free. Currently the company supplies Portuguese fish to feed the tunas. This company obtained the aquaculture license in 2004.
The extraction of tuna is carried out when there is a market demand. Always under the supervision of international observers of nationality different from the country of extraction.
It is done with the Japanese technique 'Yake nul ', through a harpoon. It begins to gut and by means of a small rod it is introduced in the spine reducing the suffering of the animal. All this translates into a better quality and durability of the meat since lactic acid is not produced. It is responsible for the somewhat brown color and the metallic taste of it.
The quality of the product is the standard and raison d'être of the company. The tuna from the beginning until it reaches the end customer. The fat of the tuna and traceability through a Bidi code. All this to give the guarantee that it comes from a legal and controlled fishing.
This exploitation has led to Balfegó group to be the world's leading bluefin tuna company. It exports to 33 countries and they are the pioneers of this technique, sustainable and transparent for the market.
