Regional Directorate for Fisheries to develop partnership with Vocational Training Centre for Fisheries and Sea (FOR-MAR)
The Regional Director for Fisheries stated in Oeiras that the Regional Government, in partnership with the Azores Fisheries Federation of Fisheries and the Vocational Training Centre for Fisheries and Sea (FOR-MAR) will develop short-term training courses for the regional fishing sector.
Luís Rodrigues spoke on the sidelines of a meeting with the Board of FOR-MAR, which was also attended by the President of the Azores Fisheries Federation. On the occasion, he stated that these courses "will mainly address safety on board and attendance to some will be even mandatory. They are scheduled to begin in the next quarter."
The Regional Director mentioned that "the three parties will sign a protocol of understanding and the Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate for Fisheries will identify and coordinate training needs."
According to Luís Rodrigues, these training courses "will cover all the islands of the archipelago and will offer training in very specific areas, which will be specifically directed to the coastal fleet segment.
The courses to be implemented focus on safety and communications, including the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, which is mandatory for coastal vessels, as well as training aimed at tuna fishing.
The Regional Director stressed that this initiative will be supervised by the Azores Maritime School, as to ensure "the sharing of information, experiences and successful practices in this area."
"We want to improve the qualifications of regional fishers by providing new short-term training solutions that will allow us to continue developing a training strategy aimed at updating knowledge and practices as required today by the fishing sector," said the government official.
Luís Rodrigues defended that fishing should "increasingly create qualified employment rather than creating unqualified and precarious work," adding that "a specific training offer is essential to raise standards to upgrade knowledge and practices that will strengthen a changing sector."