The Regional Secretary of the Sea, Science and Technology announced today that the Azores "will maintain the red seabream quota at 507 tonnes for 2017 and 2018," stressing that "this is a very important day the regional fishing sector."

Gui Menezes spoke at the end of a meeting of the European Fisheries Council, noting that "the negotiations were very difficult."

"It is unusual for the Commission and the Council to refrain from imposing quota cuts in the business circumstances we were in," the government official said, highlighting "the arguments presented by the Regional and National Governments."

The Regional Secretary for the Sea pointed out the study on the socio-economic impacts of the cuts initially proposed by the Commission on Azorean fishers and shipowners.

Moreover, he also mentioned the scientific report on the index of abundance of this species that was registered in this year's research campaign. According to him, both indicators "are very important" to the results we have achieved.

The European Commission had recommended to the Council the reduction of the red seabream quota allocated to the Azores by 12% in 2017 and 2018. For Gui Menezes, this proposal had always met "the strong opposition of the Regional and National Governments."
 
Gui Menezes pointed out that "the Region counted on the support of the National Government, which awarded priority status to the red seabream quota during the negotiations" conducted at this meeting, adding that "this is a victory for Azorean fishers."
 
The Regional Secretary revealed that it was also agreed to increase the minimum size of red seabream to 33 centimetres.
 
Gui Menezes also welcomed the fact the Region has reached an overall TAC (Total Allowable Catch) of about 10 tonnes for deep-sea sharks as bycatch, noting that, so far, there was no TAC for this species. As the government official mentioned, "its capture is inevitable," taking into consideration the fishing gear used to catch demersal and deep-sea species.
 
The European Fisheries Council has also decided to reduce the alfonsino and splendid alfonsino (Beryx spp.) by 5% in 2017, which will be maintained in 2018. The effective cut is lower by 1% than the initial proposal of the European Commission.