Regional Government invests 500 thousand Euros in Madalena Fishing Market on Pico
The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated today that the Madalena Fishing Market will increase its area by 70%. This intervention will represent "a total investment of half a million Euros" on the part of the Government.
Fausto Brito e Abreu accompanied the President of the Government, Vasco Cordeiro, during the visit to the redevelopment works of the Madalena Fishing Market and Refrigerator Storage Unit. According to him, this investment provides a response to the "operational needs to improve the unloading, handling and marking of fish. The fish market is in "perfect condition with regard to certifications and veterinary checks," stressed the government official.
The Regional Secretary for the Sea also mentioned that will be a larger refrigerator will be installed as well as an ice machine and the respective cooling system. The intervention also includes the relocation of existing machine to a space inside the fish market.
In addition to this contract work, the Government is also preparing an intervention to upgrade the doors of refrigerators, an investment of about 80 thousand Euros.
Brito e Abreu also announced a "major intervention" for the Madalena Refrigerator Storage Unit in 2016, stressing that it is "one of the most important points for the unloading of tuna" in the Region.
"We are making the right investments," Brito e Abreu said, noting that the works in the Horta Refrigerator Storage Unit will start first, followed by those in Madalena "so that one of the storage units will be always at full operating capacity."
The Regional Secretary for the Sea reminded that the “investment in the network of refrigerator equipment is critical to the valuation of fish." It is one of the measures comprised in the document "Better Fisheries More Income - Strategic Measures for the Fisheries Sector in the Azores - 2015-2020"; the latter aims to help fishers increase their income.