Tuna fillets in olive oil with ginger from the Azores, Santa Catarina

Ingredients: tuna (Katsowonus pelamis 65%) , olive oil (32%), ginger (1.5%), salt.

Net Weight: 120g
Drained weight: 84 g

Nutritional information per 100g

⁕ Calories: 740 kj / 177 kcal
⁕ Fat: 13 g
⁕ Of which saturated fatty acids: 1.0 g
⁕ Carbohydrates: 0 g
⁕ Of which sugar: 0 g
⁕ Egg white: 31 g
⁕ Salt: 1.5 g
⁕ Fiber: 0 g

The Conserveira Santa Catarina is based on the Azores island of Sao Jorge and produces - true to the motto "One man, one rod, one tuna!" – only "dolphin safe" preserves. So only tuna species that are not endangered, such as bonito, are put in the bag ... or in the can. All ingredients are locally caught and grown and processed by hand. No artificial additives are used, but a lot of love and care.

The special thing about the preserves from Santa Catarina are the finely cut pieces, which can be arranged particularly nicely. And the taste of this tuna stands out from conventional preserves: the consistency is tender but firm, the taste is delicately fishy without being overpowering - a special taste experience!

Manufacturer: Santa Catarina – Indústria Conserveira, SA. Rua do Roque, 9 | 9850-079 Calheta, Portugal

jumping and pole fishing

This technique is called "jumping and pole fishing" with live bait because of the characteristics of the procedures based on it and because it uses small live pelagic fish as bait (mackerel, sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel, etc.). As the name suggests, it uses a pole (which varies in size and shape) and the jumping technique, in which the fish is pulled on board with a single movement by jumping. Of course, this maneuver is more difficult with larger fish.

It is an active and dynamic fishery that searches for schools of tuna on the surface of the sea and lures them to the ship with live bait. There are two extremely important factors in this type of fishery: the great greediness of the tuna to feed, which can sometimes lead to frenzy behavior, and the ability of the fisherman to avoid the tuna and lure it to his hook.

One aspect of great interest about tuna fishing in the Azores is that it depends directly on another type of fishing, live bait fishing. In the Azores, this is done with small enclosing nets or "enchelavares" that catch small fish on the shore and store them in large tanks ("tinos") on the ship. Without these small specimens, it would not be possible to lure the large schools of tuna to the surface.

The ecological importance of jumping and pole fishing

Jumping and pole fishing with live bait tuna fishing is an important part of the Azores' social and cultural heritage. Given the global community's concerns about the use of indiscriminate and overly intensive fishing techniques such as drift and trawl nets, live-bait, live-bait tuna fishing should be recognized as a highly selective and environmentally friendly form of fishery as it has no by-catches.

The main reason for this high selectivity is the ease of use by the fishermen of the fishing gear used in the Azores. A person typically uses a pole, line, and hook to catch just one individual at a time. The simplicity of the equipment allows the fisherman to select the target species, thereby avoiding catching younger fish, non-commercial species or species important to conservation efforts.

To recognize and appreciate the ecological value of this fishing technique, the NGO (non-governmental organization) "Earth Island Institute" has been certifying tuna fishing in the Azores as "Dolphin-safe" since 1998 as part of its Azores Fisheries Observation Program (POPA). Recently, the same organization certified the same fishery as one of the first in the world to meet all the criteria for FOS Friend of the Sea certification.