The President of the Government made today the commitment to proceed with the construction of a pavilion at the Rabo de Peixe Port, São Miguel Island, an investment aimed at guaranteeing better working conditions in the preparation of fishing gear. 

Vasco Cordeiro made the commitment to local fishers during a visit to the site where the infrastructure will be built, after having opened the new ice distribution production unit at Rabo de Peixe Port, an investment of about half a million Euros. 

In practice, this pavilion will provide fishers with better working conditions as the preparation of fishing gear, currently carried out outdoors, will no longer be dependent on weather conditions, thus avoiding delays in the departure of fishing vessels to the sea.

Before visiting the embankment where the fishing support pavilion will be built, the President of the Government opened the new Rabo Peixe ice production unit. It has a production capacity of 10 tonnes/day and a storage capacity of 20 tonnes, with the possibility of double supply, either directly to vessels at sea or by land. 

On a morning dedicated to the fishing sector in Rabo de Peixe, Vasco Cordeiro also had the opportunity to deliver 50 diplomas to the local fishers who completed the fishing courses for the Fishing Vessel Master, Local Fishing Vessel Skipper and Fishing Vessel Skipper categories as well as the training in GMDSS - Global Maritime Relief and Safety System. 

"The more the qualification and training in this sector are reinforced, as in all other sectors, the more this activity will have better conditions to be more competitive and, above all, to generate more income," stressed the President of the Government. 

According to him, the participation of Azorean fishers in these training initiatives is, therefore, “an act of courage” insofar as it demonstrates the willingness and effort of those who “want to improve the way they work” in this activity. 

More than 1,100 fishers have already been covered in the current legislative term by training courses for the improvement of their professional qualifications, Basic Skills Acquisition Courses (ABC) and by other training initiatives in areas such as First Aid and Fire Protection and Fighting, among others. 

According to Vasco Cordeiro, investment in fishing infrastructures and the qualification of human resources in this sector has yielded practical results in recent years, pointing out the example of the price of fish sold in auction, which increased 21 percent in the last five years.

“This corresponds to more than 150 million Euros traded between 2015 and 2019. The average price doubled from about two Euros to about four Euros, achieving the desired goal, not to fish more but to sell better,” stressed Vasco Cordeiro.