The Motril fishermen might be going through tough times, but they are contributing to the lightening of the tough times of others.

It’s all thanks to a campaign called, Motril Aguas Litorales Limpias y Solidiarias, which doesn’t take much translating, does it.

The campaign has a 299.000-euro budget and has so far generated 3.5 tonnes of fresh fish for the down and out, donated directly to the Banco de Alimentos (Food Bank). At the same time, thousands of kilos of residuals (rubbish) is being scooped up off the seabed and sea surface. Not bad, eh?

The Director General of Fishing for Andalucia, Margarita Pérez Martín explained that the EU directive forbids ‘descartes;’ i.e., the commercial use of catches that do not confirm with legal sizes, etc. Descartes also cover catches that are commercially nonviable. Normally, it would be thrown back but inevitably too damaged to survive. However, instead of literally being wasted, the fish is donated to the Food Bank – this is a pioneer project in Europe.

So, everybody’s happy. The fishermen are being paid to put to sea; the down and out are being fed, and on top of that, the sea is being cleaned up. What more can you ask for?

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: Daniel Sánchez)