The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology met in Brussels with the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission (DG MARE), Lowri Evan, with whom he analysed the Regional Government's policies for the fisheries sector.

During the meeting, which was also attended by two heads of the DG MARE department, Fausto Brito e Abreu conveyed "the Azorean Government's concerning on issues such as fishing quotas, particularly for red seabream." The government official also analysed "measures intended to mitigate the social and economic impact of quota reductions," recently approved by the Fisheries Council of the European Union.

The Regional Secretary informed the European Commission about some of the plans developed by the Regional Government for the fisheries sector next year, particularly with regard to the promotion of aquaculture, the development of protected marine areas promoted by fishers themselves, the training of fishers and increased monitoring of fishing activities.

"We discussed the mobilisation of funds from the next Community Support Framework to promote additional ways to increase the income of fishers, through the promotion of activities such as fishing-tourism and aquaculture," said Fausto Brito e Abreu.

Director-General Lowri Evans pointed out the potential of the Priority Axis 4 of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to raise the income of fishing communities and diversify the activities of this sector.

On his trip to Brussels, in addition to meeting with the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, the Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology also met with the members of the EU parliament, Ricardo Serrão Santos and Sofia Ribeiro, and with advisers at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the European Union.

Fausto Brito e Abreu also presented "the measures provided for 2015 concerning the protection of the coastline against extreme weather events" during a meeting with the Head of the Mainstreaming Adaptation and Low Carbon Technology Department at the Directorate-General for Climate Action of the European Union, Humberto Rosa.