Coastal Station to provide information that contributes to enhancement of fish products, says Regional Director for Fisheries
The Regional Director for Fisheries stated in Ponta Delgada that the Porto de Abrigo Coastal Station will provide "other services," besides assisting seafarers in situations of distress, adding that "it will provide services to support the enhancement of fish products."
Speaking during a visit to the Coastal Station, Luis Rodrigues stated that it will provide information on the price of fish in regional fish markets and on the most unloaded species. According to him, this will help "shipowners or fishing masters to adjust the unloading of fish in accordance with the price paid in each fish market of the archipelago.
The Regional Director also mentioned that the Coastal Station "could be used as a fisheries management tool," transmitting, for example, "information on a regular basis about the state of species with stipulated quotas."
The possibility of the Coastal Station being able to provide new services came as a result of the project developed during the European Waste Prevention Week in November. Under this event, educational contents on marine litter were developed and then transmitted via VHF radio to all fishing vessels.
"We realised that the Coastal Station could provide other services on a regular basis and adopt an education-oriented intervention," said Luís Rodrigues.
In this context, he added that the Regional Directorate for Fisheries is "preparing an action linked to first aid and the prevention of fires on board."
"We have technicians preparing training frameworks to reach all fishing communities in the Azores in person, but the Coastal Station can also be used to launch information related to first aid and fires at sea," said the government official.
Luís Rodrigues defended that, "according to the availability of the operator, information on the training activities" developed by the Regional Directorate for Fisheries may be sent to all fishing vessels within the Portuguese maritime territory.
Established in 2003, the Coastal Station assists all seafarers in distress at sea, providing services such as towing requests in the event of engine breakdown, lack of fuel and accidents on board as well as information on weather conditions in fishing areas and weather warnings.
Since 2014, the Government of the Azores has been supporting the operation of the Coastal Station by paying the salary of its operator.
In this regard, the Regional Director highlighted the importance of the "role of the station's operator," noting that it is "a friendly voice" that brings "comfort to all those who make the sea their way of life."
The Regional Director's visit included the presentation of the services provided by the Coastal Station in 2017. It received 5,000 calls, including requests for assistance and rescue.
The renewal of the Coastal Station network was concluded in September 2016, a 70 thousand-Euro investment of the Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology. It has managed to improve the VHF coverage in the archipelago and extend its coverage beyond 200 nautical miles in the Azores sub-area within the Exclusive Economic Zone.
With this investment, the Coastal Station began providing assistance to vessels throughout the Portuguese maritime territory through the HF-Marine system. Moreover, it established a direct connection with the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service in order to provide medical assistance via radio to vessels navigating in regional waters.