The sea is everything for António Marques. His profession as a fisherman brought him knowledge about the generosity of the salt waters of the Atlantic, a wisdom that is currently applied at Mecomar Mariscos and shared with the brothers Sandra and Mário André Marques.
Rua Porto d’Era, Casal das Figueiras
Zambujal de Baixo
2970-031 Sesimbra
How to get there
+ 351 210 896 289
geral@mecomarmariscos.pt
www.mecomarmariscos.pt
Instagram/@mecomarmariscos
Facebook/@mecomarmariscos
Introduced by
Luís Barradas
Texto de Patrícia Serrado
"I was a fisherman between the ages of 18 and 22 or until I was 22 or 23 years old”, says António Marquês, co-founder of Mecomar Mariscos, a family business based in Zambujal de Baixo, in the municipality of Sesimbra. After deep sea fishing, he decides to catch bivalves at Lagoa de Albufeira, in Sesimbra. Thus, mussel production begins.
Meanwhile, in 2002, António Marques' family opened a fish shop in Aldeia do Meco. Given the growth of this business, two years later, he formed a partnership with his sister, Sandra Marques, and together they founded Mecomar Mariscos. We were in 2012, “when we got the debugger, we partnered [Mário] André”, the younger brother.
The list of bivalves from Mecomar Mariscos exceeds three dozen species and the harvest is carried out in the waters that bathe the Portuguese coast, “from Vila Real de Santo António to Caminha”, reveals António Marques. However, they always try to give priority to products from Setúbal or Sesimbra. “During the spawning period, I prefer the Óbidos Lagoon”.
Sustainability and proximity are inseparable from quality and safety regarding the product. “The less time the product is out of the water and the less time it takes to travel and freeze conditioning, the longer it lasts”, António justifies.
“We buy, debug, label, put the certification and put it on the market”, António Marques also declares that all products sold by Mecomar Mariscos "have a certificate of origin". Fishermen and producers from whom they buy bivalves are duly licensed. "We always have the invoice and certificate for the species and the area where the fisherman caught or where it was produced."
Regarding the quality of the product, he took the opportunity to mention the issue of bivalve aquaculture, which “has nothing to do with sea bass raised in aquaculture”, he warns. “The bivalves are bred on an extensive basis” and “they are simply captured”, says António Marques, to demystify this prejudice.
As for the debugger, he assures that it is properly certified, and emphasizes: "We have strict control, from the conditions of transport, from the shellfish collector to delivery, to the final consumer."
Mecomar Mariscos' products are channelled, mostly, to the Horeca channel – more than 90% –, that is, to restaurants in Greater Lisbon. "It is delivered every day by hand, in our cars."
