Regional Director for Fisheries calls for importance of ensuring sustainable tuna fisheries
The Regional Director for Fisheries sent today a statement to fishing associations calling for "the importance" of ensuring that tuna fishing is carried out in a responsible and sustainable manner.
In this document, Luís Rodrigues conveys his satisfaction with "the abundance of tuna in the Azores sea," but warns industry partners of "the need to manage tuna catches."
"On the one hand, the management of catches ensures better stowage, conservation and storage that will guarantee a product of excellence and, on the other hand, it is a method of regulating the price of tuna in the market that will prevent a drop in the price per Kg," states the government official.
According to Luís Rodrigues, "it is wise to efficiently manage tuna spots," taking into account that "Portugal has already reached 66% of the bigeye tuna quota."
"Now, more than ever, it is important to ensure quality fishing, not quantity," said the government official.
The Regional Director for Fisheries recalled "the steps" taken by the Regional Government in recent years with ICCAT - International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the European Commission towards the defence of pole-and-line tuna fishing.
"The Azorean Government has demanded in Brussels the reduction of the number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) per vessel as well as of the number of tuna seine vessels fishing in the Atlantic."
Luís Rodrigues also highlighted the 1st International Conference on Pole-and-line Tuna Fishing, an event with global projection organised by the Government of the Azores. According to him, "it intended to defend highly selective and environment-friendly fisheries as there are no bycatches."
Moreover, the Regional Director mentioned the Azores Declaration in Support of Pole-and-Line Tuna Fishing, which was issued following the aforementioned conference. It is a "code of conduct" for tuna fisheries that was signed by 16 countries and more than 100 institutions in the fishing sector.