The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology visited the Rabo de Peixe Fishing Port on São Miguel Island, where he stressed the fact that two public tenders for the construction of 32 fishing gear houses and the acquisition of a travel lift for the beaching and hauling of vessels.

"The public tenders open by Lotaçor represent an investment of nearly 650 thousand Euros that will improve the working conditions of the largest fishing community in the archipelago," said Fausto Brito e Abreu.

The new fishing gear houses will be built next to the existing houses; their construction "will reinforce the current capacity of the fishing port in terms of infrastructures."

The intervention will cover an area exceeding 800 square metres, of which 300 metres represent the construction area of the 32 fishing gear houses. There will also be an outdoor area with 400 square metres "for the repair of fishing gear with the appropriate safety and hygiene conditions" and a car park with an area over 100 square metres.

Each house will have an area of 12.50 square metres and will be properly ventilated and supplied with electricity.

This intervention has a base value of 325 thousand Euros and a completion period of 210 days. The period for the submission of proposals opens in March.

The international public tender for the acquisition of the travel lift, with capacity of 75 tonnes, has a base value of 320 thousand Euros. The deadline for submission of proposal ends on March 17.
 
"The Government of the Azores promotes investments in infrastructures and equipment to ensure the best working conditions to fishing professionals, boosting the competitiveness of the sector and increasing the income of fishers," said Brito e Abreu.

The Regional Secretary also mentioned other "investments in the port infrastructures of other fishing communities in the archipelago that will focus on the cold storage network, including fish markets, cold storage units and ice machines."