The Regional Secretariat for Natural Resources, through the Regional Directorate for Fisheries, will establish a protocol with IMAR - Institute of Marine Research for the processing and transmission of scientific data on fish caught in the Azores Sea to the European Union.

The protocol was announced today in Lisbon by the Regional Director for Fisheries at the end of a meeting with the coordinating board of the National Data Collection Programme. This meeting was held with the aim of analysing the new requirements for the sector in according with the provisions of new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the future European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

"The National Data Collection Programme is of utmost importance to the implementation of the CFP," Luís Costa said, adding that the Member states "will have to manage the data collected and make them available to final users and other interested parties."

The biological data collected will cover the following aspects: size, gender, age, type of gear used, volume and captured species; the monitoring of species is carried out in the Region on a daily basis and will be addressed by IMAR. In addition to the collection of these data, the Regional Director revealed that the Government in partnership with associations and the University of the Azores will collect information on aquaculture and the processing industry and the evolution of employment in the sector with the aim of supporting the economic situation of companies."

Under the new Common Fisheries Policy, the knowledge on fisheries matters should be reinforced through the implementation of scientific programmes for data collection, research and innovation, which should be adopted at a national level and developed in conjunction with other Member States.

In order to fulfil these goals, Member States should collect the biological, environmental, technical and socio-economic data required for the sustainable management and development of fisheries.

The acquisition and management of such data is eligible for funding under the terms of the future EMFF to enter into force in the period 2014-2020.