The Regional Secretary for Natural Resources said on Tuesday that the Regional Government is aware of the difficulties faced by fishers and has taken the initiative to implement the support mechanisms provided by the current legislation.

In this context, Luís Neto Viveiros expressed his "total" disagreement with the accusations made against the Regional Government regarding a supposed "slow" response to the problems that fishers are facing.

"Being aware of the drop in the income of Azorean fishers in first quarter of 2013 due to the bad weather conditions that have prevented fishers from working, the Regional Government has decided to activate FUNDOPESCA as it had been previously announced," the Regional Secretary stated, speaking to journalists in Santa Cruz da Graciosa.

Following the activation of FUNDOPESCA in December 2012, 1,633 requests were submitted to the Regional Directorate for Fisheries, of which 1,193 were approved and the respective financial support was already granted.

After the period of claim, another 154 requests that complied with the criteria set by the Administrative Board of FUNDOPESCA were also approved.

With regard to the accusations of resorting to the Tax Authority to coercively recover the funds allocated to small shipowners, Luís Neto Viveiros explained that in October 2012, eight shipowners were notified to provide clarification on the investments subsidised by public funds to support the modernisation, repair and construction of vessels.

"In the absence of a response, it was decided that the Regional Directorate for the Budget and Treasury would be in charge of moving forward with the tax enforcement procedures as we believe that the good management of public funds requires this type of procedures," stated the Regional Secretary.

Furthermore, Luís Neto Viveiros stressed that the proposal for the revision of the legislation on FUNDOPESCA is concluded; it will be soon debated at the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.