The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated in Madeira that" the cooperation" between the regional directorates of the fisheries of the Azores and Madeira Governments "is already in force."
 
Fausto Brito e Abreu noted that the Azorean Government will issue licenses so that Madeira vessels engaged in black scabbard fishing may fish in the Azores and "integrate some Azorean fishers into their crew." In this regard, the government official added that regional seiners may fish using pole-and-line fishing gear in Madeira, where the Regional Government also intends to gradually implement the Azores Fisheries Observation Programme (POPA).
 
The Regional Secretary for the Sea spoke Friday in Santa Cruz at the end of a visit to the premises of IlhaPeixe, a company dedicated to the processing and packaging of fish, especially black scabbard.
 
"[Black scabbard] is important because it is an underused resource in the Azores," the government official said, adding that "the tradition that has existed for many decades in Madeira may be passed on to Azorean fishers."
 
During the visit, Brito e Abreu also emphasised the role of IlhaPeixe in aquaculture production, namely "the integrated research model" implemented at Mariculture Centre, "large-scale" fish production in offshore cages and the fish processing capacity for export.