The Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology, through the Regional Directorate for Fisheries, will move forward with the payment of FUNDOPESCA to 1,344 professionals, corresponding to a total amount of 350 thousand Euros.
 
The Salary Compensation Fund for Azores Fishing Professionals, commonly known as FUNDOPESCA, was activated in January based on the analysis of unloads registered during the month of December 2015. In this context, the Administration Board of FUNDOPESCA unanimously decided to set the amount of support to be allocated to the fishers covered by this fund at 278.25 Euros.
 
Following the activation of FUNDOPESCA, is set at 50% of the regional minimum wage, a total of 1,622 applications were submitted, which represents 315 vessels.
 
Applications were analyses in accordance with the eligibility criteria established for the period covered, namely the exercise of fishing activities and the payment of Social Security contributions, a minimum of 50 unloadings or a minimum amount of 7,500 Euros in unloadings at fish markets by local fishing vessels and divers, and a minimum of 30 unloadings or a minimum amount of 25,000 Euros in unloadings at fish markets by coastal fishing vessels.
 
The Regional Director for Fisheries stated that the allocation of FUNDOPESCA this year was carried as "quick as possible," stressing that "there was only an 11-day interval between the end of the submission period of applications and the respective payment, which would normally took 30 days."
 
Luís Costa also said "this was the last time that FUNDOPESCA was activated under the previous legislative framework, since the new legal framework regulating FUNDOPESCA was recently approved by the Legislative Assembly."
 
"The application phase was also intended to update the database," the government official said, adding that "it will even save more time in the period between the application phase of FUNDOPESCA and the respective payment."
 
FUNDOPESCA was created in 2002 with the purpose of providing a financial compensation to fishers when they are prevented from working in certain situations.
 
The new legal framework, which will come into force shortly, provides that the drop of income is a criterion for the activation of this financial support mechanism for professionals in the fishing sector.