The Regional Director for Fisheries defended in Ponta Delgada that we have "all the conditions" for adapting the scheme on the management of fishing capacity in Outermost Regions to "ensure a balance between the fishing capacity of fleets and the their fishing possibilities."
 
Luís Rodrigues stated that the current indicators used to measure the fishing capacity and the management of inflows and outflows in the fleet, including gross tonnage and vessel power, "are not suited to the reality of the regional fleet and fisheries, namely with regard to the restrictions on the engine power of vessels."
 
As for the specific case of the Azores, the government official defended that "the capacity indicators to be used should be those that are, in fact, directly related to the fishing capacity, namely the number of vessels and the respective tonnage."
 
The Regional Director spoke in Ponta Delgada at the first meeting of the ORFISH European project in the Azores, an event organised by the Regional Directorate for Fisheries, the Azores Fisheries Federation and SeaExpert.
 
The ORFISH project, which involves several Outermost Regions (ORs) in the European Union, is the result of a strategic decision for sustainability taken under the new Common Fisheries Policy.
 
"The participation of the Azores is mainly focused on the dissemination of more selective and sustainable fishing gear for other regions, such as the case of handline fishing," Luís Rodrigues said, adding that the Government plans to create a database on fisheries in Outermost Regions.
 
This meeting, which ends today, intends to assess a series of successful experiences carried out in the ORs involved in the project. Each region will present its fishing sector based on economic, social and biological indicators.
 
With an implementation period of one year, the ORFISH project covers the Azores, Madeira, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Canary Islands, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte through a partnership with private entities, research institutes and governmental entities.