The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology opened today the new Povoação Port on S. Miguel, a work representing an investment of 4.2 million Euros.
Fausto Brito e Abreu stated this infrastructure provides "excellent conditions not only to fishers, but also to other activities, such as recreational fishing, tourism fishing, recreational boating, maritime sports and maritime tourism activities; the latter include diving, whale watching and boat tours."

In his speech, the Regional Secretary for the Sea called on local authorities and fishers to play "an increasingly important role" in the development of new sea-related activities. In this regard, the government official mentioned that the new Community Support Framework, through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, provides funding for local development of community-based measures.

"We will create coastal action groups made up of local agents responsible for the creation and implementation of development measures in the community," Brito e Abreu said, adding that these projects have created more than 8,000 jobs at a European level."

"The Azores are a unique region in the national and European context for their maritime dimension and our sustainable relation with the sea," said the government official.

As regard to fisheries, Brito e Abreu highlighted that "the improvement of operating conditions of regional ports has been one of the main priority areas for the Government, in addition to the increase of fishers' income, the improvement in their training skills and the supervision of fisheries."

With the new Povoação Port, "this part of São Miguel Island is provided with a port infrastructure can be an alternative to Ribeira Quente Port in case of bad weather."

The contract work for the expansion of Povoação Port Fisheries comprised the construction of a breakwater rooted on the east embankment and an inner jetty to improve shelter conditions in the basin.

The intervention also included a procedure to divert the discharge from a stream in order to avoid the silting of the harbour basin, the partial removal of the rockfill from the protective layer of the retention wall located west of the mouth of Purgar stream and the dredging of the basin.