The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology pointed out the "permanent transformation" of the challenges the fisheries sector faces, recalling that, 40 years ago, this industry faced difficulties concerning the "lack of capacity" of the fishing fleet and "the existence of port infrastructures with few safety conditions."
 
Fausto Brito e Abreu stressed that the "wise use" of EU funds and the skills that the autonomy has granted to the Regional Government has provide the Azores with "a capable fleet and port infrastructure with good safety and operating conditions."
 
The Regional Secretary for the Sea spoke on behalf of the President of the Government at the opening of the International Forum on Azores Fisheries, stressing the increase in fishers' income, the sustainability of marine resources and the dignifying of the fishing profession as some of the biggest challenges the sector faces.
 
In this regard, he stressed the importance of scientific knowledge to "guide fisheries," not only with regard to policies for the sector but also "to guide their own fishing activity as well as the choices that each vessel, each association [fisheries] and each island should take.”
 
"We must have a in-depth knowledge of our sea in order to determine the smarter way to generate wealth from fishing activities in the long-term," the Regional Secretary said, defending the need to establish a "bilateral relation" between scientific and fishing communities.
 
"Fishers have a considerable empirical knowledge of our sea and, therefore, should also convey their challenges to our scientists," said the government official.
 
Fausto Brito e Abreu pointed out the tender to support research projects in business context amounting to two million Euros, which runs until December 31, 2018. It aims to “bring more science to our business community and more empirical knowledge to our scientists." 
 
In his speech, the Regional Secretary for the Sea also called for the need to "work together for the common good." He highlighted importance of this forum to "forge alliances and openly discuss the challenges of the sector, searching for solutions through the collective effort to generate ideas, which should include fishers, fish traders, scientists, politicians and supervisory fishing authorities."
 
The International Forum on Azores Fisheries, which runs until Thursday, is being attended by one hundred participants from Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and the United States of America. The sustainability of fisheries is the main theme of the event.
 
The evaluation of marine resources, fisheries monitoring programmes in the Azores, the European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the conservation of marine biodiversity and fisheries, bycatch, the importance of associations and aquaculture are among the topics to be discussed at this meeting.