The Regional Director for Fisheries stated in Terre-Basse, Guadeloupe, that the Azores "continue to work" towards the promotion of good maritime governance and responsible fishing with national and international institutions.
 
"The established fisheries agreements should award priority status to local fishing, stimulating investment and good governance," said Luís Rodrigues. He spoke Thursday at the initial meeting of the "ORFISH project - Development of innovative, low-impact offshore fishing practices for small-scale vessels in outermost regions."
 
This project aims to maintain and diversify the activity of traditional fishing and avoid the pressure on coastal resources, through the exchange of knowledge and technological innovation among the Outermost Regions of the European Union.
 
Luís Rodrigues stressed that the Azores awarded "priority" status to the continuation of measures that "guarantee the preservation of various levels and natural components of biodiversity as a vector for a sustainable development policy."
 
"The scientific monitoring and control of fisheries must become even more efficient," added the government official.
 
At the meeting, the Regional Director stressed the importance of ORFISH for Outermost Regions, defending that "all players in the fishing industry should continue to be fully involved in the discussions about the implementation of political decisions."
 
Coordinated by the Regional Government of Guadeloupe, the ORFISH project will be implemented for a period of one year. It will involve the Azores, Madeira, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Canaries and Reunion as well as a series of agents in each of these regions, from private entities to research institutes and governmental bodies.
 
This project provides for the production of joint information and the sharing of successful experiences between the regions involved. It is the result of a strategic decision for sustainability and diversity under the new Common Fisheries Policy on fishing activity in Outermost Regions.
 
Various workshops and exchanges between fishers are already being organised under ORFISH with the aim of diversifying fishing activities and the study of sustainable fishing gear.
 
In this first meeting, the Azores were represented by the Regional Directorate for Fisheries, the Azores Fisheries Federation and SeaExpert. The latter is a service and consultancy company in the area of fishing and one of the main partners of this project.