-
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty, Narvay Quintero, granted this recognition to the owner of Pescados Ramón for his professional career during the closing of the plenary session of the Spanish Network of Fishing Groups, held this week in San Cristóbal de La Laguna
The Government of the Canary Islands has paid tribute today, Wednesday, May 14, to Ramón Morales Rodríguez, founder and owner of the company Pescados Ramón, at the closing ceremony of the Plenary Session of the Spanish Network of Fishing Groups (REGP), which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has organized this week in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife), with the collaboration of the Coastal Action Group of Tenerife, the Island Council and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Pesca and Food Sovereignty of the regional Executive.
Councilor Narvay Quintero presented this recognition to the 82-year-old businessman, originally from La Gomera, for his successful professional career and as a reference for entrepreneurship in the fishing sector, at the close of the conference that brought together the Local Fishing Action Groups of Spain this week in Tenerife, during an event that also included attended the general director of Fisheries Management and Aquaculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, María Aurora de Blas; of the Vice-Minister of the Presidency, Alfonso Cabello; the vice-counselor of the Primary Sector, Eduardo García; the CEO in matters of the Primary Sector of the Cabildo of La Gomera, Noelia Morales; the general director of Fisheries, Esteban Reyes; the island counselor of the Primary Sector and Animal Welfare of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Valentín González; and the Councilor for Rural Development of La Laguna, Cristina Ledesma, among other authorities and representatives of the Local and Fisheries Action Groups (GALP) and associations in the sector.
In reference to the figure of Ramón Morales, Quintero stressed that "his story is an inspiring example of a professional background that starts from humble beginnings to the consolidation of one of the most important companies in the Canary Islands fishing sector, which makes him an example for new generations that consider joining the primary sector."
As part of this tribute, a video was shown at the event in which the main professional milestones of this businessman born in Vallehermoso in 1943 were reviewed, who began working as a teenager, bringing down firewood from the mountains, with a donkey and a wooden cart that he made himself, as his first investments in equipment.
At just 14 years old, he was already transporting fish on his back between Valle Gran Rey and Vallehermoso, walking from afternoon until dawn and, while still very young, he bought his first fishmonger. At the age of 17 he moved to Santa Cruz de Tenerife to work in the mornings at a parcel company and study in the afternoons, until he obtained his driving license. Returning to La Gomera, he combined his work as a driver with selling fish, in addition to looking for commercial alternatives, such as selling potatoes, when weather conditions prevented the boats from going out to fish.
In this way, at the age of 27 he launched the main project of his business career: Pescados Ramón and, two years later, he established the business in Tenerife to take advantage of commercial opportunities and expansion to the peninsula. Thus it became a pioneer in the tuna export sector at a national and international level, with the capacity to open markets such as Japan or the United States.
Over the years its fleet has grown from that first boat, La Remigia, to a total of eight of its own boats, as well as refrigerated trucks and a staff of more than one hundred workers. Among the anecdotes of his professional career, the design and construction of a floating raft in the 90s stands out, with a small house on top, to be placed on the high seas and, from that wooden platform, to fatten the area's fish with the purpose of increasing catches during a period of difficult years for fishing in the Canary Islands.
Today, Ramón Morales continues to lead the company at the age of 82 and summarizes his professional career in one sentence: “If I were born again, I would do it again.”
