Located in the heart of Vigo and its estuary, representing the origins of the city, the fishing port O Berbés is a hive of energy from the early hours of the morning. Everyday, 6,000 stallholders, auctioneers, haulage contractors, forklift operators, security guards and inspectors coming and going liven up the fish markets which make up its basic structure. Around 800,000 tons of fresh and frozen fish and shellfish are annually commercialized through this port.

The fish arriving from different parts of the world is sold at the deep-sea fish market, which covers a surface of 6,000 square metres. More than 50% of the products transferred here come from distant fishing grounds, and this requires the maintenance of a big logistical effort. In this fish market, there is also fish from other ports and markets of the Iberian Peninsula that, before arriving to their final market, are put in at the port of Vigo due to its high concentration of purchasers.

At the big species fish market, traders strive to find the best fresh specimens of swordfish, tuna or shark species that are directly unloaded in Vigo by longline vessels based in this port or arriving from other points of the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, seeing in O Berbés a business opportunity.

The coastal fish market, where fish coming from coastal fleets based in the estuary of Vigo is auctioned, is located in the same building. The marketed products are different fish and shellfish caught the same day; therefore, freshness and quality are outstanding. In the littoral fish market, also in the same building, we can find 120 square metres for the auction of products coming from the Galician-Portuguese coast. The offer consists on mackerel, horse mackerel and sardine in big volumes, so a Dutch auction is carried out exhibiting the products.

The shellfish fish market, inaugurated in 2006, is the most recent facility. It has a surface of 583 square metres where the shellfish caught by vessels in the estuary is auctioned. Thanks to this market, the offer has been concentrated and increased in the last years, meaning a higher added value and gaining a greater number of purchasers. Finally, the interactive or digital fish market, operating in the fishing building, allows us to buy fish and shellfish on-line at the fishing digital platforms. Likewise, O Berbés has nine screens placed in different points of the port that enable the connection, in real time, with 35 European and American ports. The price of the main species can be checked in these screens.

Port operators have at their disposal 74 departments for the preparation and packing of fish in the deep-sea fish market —two floors of 7,400 square metres— and 45 departments at the Nuevo Tinglado General (New General Platform) —three floors of 1,854, 827 and 376 square metres respectively. Ship-owners have offices, warehouses and departments for sellers both at O Berbés and the Bouzas Free Trade Zone.

The fishing activity in Vigo is not just confined to extraction and commercialization, but it also covers all fishing fields. Therefore, there is a strong presence of the canning and freezing industries and of the aquaculture activity, as well as an important industrial network linked to the shipbuilding industry, relying on the activity of shipyards with years and years of experience. Vigo also hosts the main Spanish associations, the Community Fisheries Control Agency and marine and fishing research centres with a wide experience in oceanic, biological and even technological and financial studies about fisheries: Instituto Español de Oceanografía (Spanish Institute of Oceanography), Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas del CSIC (CSIC Marine Research Institute), Centro Tecnológico del Mar (Technological Centre of the Sea), Centro Técnico Nacional de Conservación de Productos de Pesca (Spanish Technical Centre for the Conservation of Fisheries Products), as well as different research centres and departments of the thriving University of Vigo.

All these characteristics create an important socioeconomic network and proclaim Vigo the perfect host for the World Fishing Exhibition 2009 and the First Aqua Farming International.