The Regional Secretary for the Environment and the Sea defended in Horta today that the Azores, in terms of governance guidelines, “should regard the sea as one of their main goals.”
Álamo Meneses spoke at the opening session of the international seminar on deep ocean issues, to which he presided over on behalf of the President of the Government. The seminar will take place until Thursday at Sociedade Amor da Pátria.
According to the Secretary, deep sea preservation and research are “a central area for the future of the Azores,” requiring special attention from the Government.
For the Secretary, it is important that the growing role that the Region has been playing regarding sea management, as a consequence of the last constitutional and statutory revisions, should not be limited only to fisheries.
We need to have “an extended and systematic approach concerning ocean issues, thus achieving a consistent position with what we believe is our history and with what we believe to be our needs,” added Álamo Meneses.
The Secretary also said that we have “much more sea than land” in the Azores; therefore the Government’s policies concerning the sea have a greater importance that those concerning the terrestrial environment.”
Álamo Meneses also mentioned that we regard the problems with sea management in the Azores as “our problem,” with great impact in the Archipelago’s development, for that reason “we have always kept a critical and committed position” with regard to the EU policies about deep sea management.
The Secretary said that, regarding the case of deep sea, its richness is not limited to fish, because there is a “vast potential, such as valuable minerals, products with important pharmaceutical application, renewable energy sources and probably other resources yet to be discovered.”
He also stated that, by regarding the deep sea as a multiplicity of essential “habitats” for the correct functioning of marine ecosystems, we are faced “with the need to preserve these sites.”
170 scientists, companies, NGOs, members from National administration organisations, as well as members from international organisations from more than 20 countries are participating in this symposium which is being held under the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea).