The Regional Secretary for Natural Resources, Luís Neto Viveiros, announced on Friday that the Administrative Board of FUNDOPESCA will meet with the purpose of compensating fishers.

The "reduced number of catches" and, subsequently, "the loss of income" were the reasons mentioned by Luís Neto Viveiros after an audience with the Director of the Fisheries Federation to justify the decision to activate FUNDOPESCA for the second time this year.

"We also intend to review the current [operation] rules of FUNDOPESCA, which will be evaluated by the speciality committee in accordance with the new requirements and a new framework," said the government official.

The Regional Secretariat for Natural Resources and the Azores Fisheries Federation, chaired by José António Fernandes, estimate that the amount of support allocated to fishers will correspond to 50% of the regional minimum wage.

Furthermore, some of the challenges the fisheries sector is facing were also analysed during the audience for the exchange of greetings that was held at Quinta de São Gonçalo in Ponta Delgada.