The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated in Horta that the Government of the Azores "has been considering" with regional fishing associations the establishment of "a closed season for red seabream that will last from one to two months and will be in force during of spawning time of this species."

According to Fausto Brito e Abreu, this measure "would increase the population of red seabream at a time when its commercial is higher at fish markets."

The Regional Secretary for the Sea spoke at the end of a meeting with the Association of Producers of Demersal Species of the Azores (APEDA). This initiative provided fishers with an opportunity to express their concerns about the sector.

The management of marine protect areas and fishing resources, namely the management of red seabream catches, increased supervision, tourism fishing and aquaculture, were some of the topics under analysis at the meeting.

With regard to the management of resources, Fausto Brito e Abreu said that the situation of recreational fishing was also discussed, stressing the regulations on this activity should be reviewed.

The Regional Secretary also stressed that during the meeting, "APEDA called for increased supervision of our fishing ban zones and presented proposals for the economic diversification of the fishing community," pointing out as examples fishing tourism and aquaculture. The association is developing "some projects in these areas."

The meeting also addressed the training of fishers, "a priority area for the Regional Government," stressed Fausto Brito e Abreu.

"This year, the Government will reinforce the investment in training and APEDA gave us some ideas on how to change the curriculum of training courses for fishers in order to update them, which will allow fishers to boost the profitability of the fish they catch," mentioned the government official.
 
The impact of a certain dolphin species on fisheries was also discussed at the meeting. In this regard, fishers mentioned that this species is aware of the existence of fish on the tip of the hook when fishers are pulling the longline and, consequently, steals the fish.

"It is necessary to have a device that creates unpleasant sounds to dolphins, but not too harmful, in order to prevent them from stealing fish from fishers," said Fausto Brito e Abreu, who challenged the regional scientific community "to find a solution for this problem."

The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology said the meeting with APEDA was "useful," taking into consideration that this association, established in 2002, "is very dynamic and has presented many ideas and projects." Currently, the association consists of 50 members: fishers and shipowners.