From its beginnings Pescanova introduced new technology for the complete activity of fish processing, best defined by the factory ship which was not common in Spain at the time.

In 1980 Manuel Fernández de Sousa-Faro, the son of the founder, took over the presidency and, after a period of restructuring, Pescanova became a multinational empire.

[1] The multinational empire had by January 2014 an accumulated debt of €5.8bn, according to Spain's National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

[10] On 8 January 2015, Manuel Fernandez Sousa-Faro was chastised because of his failure to report a number of properties to the Court, which had fined him for his role in the collapse of Pescanova.

In January 2014, Fernandez had been condemned, along with colleagues Carlos Turci, Alfonso Garcia and Angel Gonzales, Alfonso Paz-Andrade, Fernando Fernandez, Robert Albert Williams, Antonio Taboas, Joaquin Vina, Alfredo Lopez and ICS Holding Limited, for their contributions to the collapse of the firm.

[12] By 6 February 2015, New York-based hedge fund Broadbill Investment Partners had acquired 3.69% of Pescanova, according to records of the Spanish financial regulator CNMV.

The financial regulator showed Pescanova's former chairman Manuel Fernandez de Sousa as the company's largest shareholder with 7.5% of shares, followed by the Spanish heiress Carolina Herrero Masaveu, with 7.1% and Spanish brewery Damm, which lost its bid to control the fishing giant the previous year, with 6.2%.

[17] In 2023, the company's plans to build an octopus farm in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria were met with objections from scientists and animal welfare activist.