Around two hundred shellfish gatherers and nurserymen from the Ria Formosa demonstrated yesterday in front of the Olhão delegation of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere against the reclassification of the bivalve production areas.
In what was the perfect example of a peaceful protest, marked by serenity and without posters or slogans shouted in chorus, the professionals of this sector were informed that, for now, they managed to arrange a meeting in Lisbon with the guardianship, this Friday Thursday, at 16:30 pm, where all public entities with responsibilities for the Ria Formosa will also be present.
«Half an hour before 15 pm, the different Chambers of Ria Formosa and the sector associations, we were summoned to meet tomorrow [today] with the Secretary of State. We await what he has to tell us. We will also have something to say and a concrete proposal, based on analyses, so that either a suspension or a change in the ordinance can be promoted», said the mayor of Olhão António Pina to the demonstrators.
The ordinance in question, which was the object of dispute by the nurserymen and shellfish collectors, was published about 15 days ago and determined a reclassification, underneath, of almost all bivalve production areas in the country.
In practice, this has meant that the Algarve lagoon area has predominantly areas classified as C, the lowest classification and which prevents the commercialization of bivalves, which cannot even go to purification. The only possibilities are its transposition to an area classified as B for a long period or its sale to the industry, with very low profitability.
A national problem, which has an especially serious repercussion in the Algarve, where there are several thousand people who depend on the fruits of the Ria Formosa, officially and unofficially.
«With documents, there will be 2 to 3 people living in the Ria. Without documents, there are twice as many. They are people who take a little, to earn 10 euros, often to add to the meager income», said the president of Cooperativa Formosa Augusto da Paz.
On the trip to Lisbon this afternoon, the sector associations (those who attended the meeting with the IPMA technicians today, will join Vivmar, from Faro) and the municipalities will get the homework done. According to Augusto da Paz “there are analyzes of November 25th and 26th that only show areas A and B” and will be one of the arguments presented.
Armed with these and other proofs, the Algarvian delegation will demand the suspension or change of the ordinance, but also «the creation of a Salary Compensation Fund different from the one that already exists, as this does not include the shellfish gatherers of Ria Formosa, if this situation persists ».
On the part of the leader of the Union of Fisheries of the South, Josué Marques, yesterday's meeting served only for the IPMA and the tutelage to understand the demands of the sector's professionals, «so that we already have an answer when we arrive in Lisbon».
“I think that after tomorrow's meeting [today], nothing will be the same. As soon as we come back, we will schedule another meeting with the people, to explain what was discussed there. If it does not respond to the concerns and concerns of these people, the plenary will certainly decide what we are going to do”, said Josué Marques, launching an idea: “and why not the occupation of Terreiro do Paço?”.
Calmly, the pressure also increases
Yesterday's demonstration was called in a plenary that brought together more than 500 people in the Auditorium of Olhão, on Wednesday. Perhaps because of the media exposure that this meeting had, the Government's reaction was swift.
Unaware of this development, shellfish gatherers and nurserymen began to gather at the IPMA patio in Olhão from 15 pm onwards and their numbers soon increased. And although tempers had never been raised, it was felt that it would not take much for the protest to rise, and very much, in tone. Suffice it to say that, at the Wednesday plenary, there were those who offered to pay ten buses to take the demonstration to the door of the Ministry of Environment, in Lisbon, the very next day.
For a long time, the entrance area of this entity was free and only when a small delegation, composed of the president of the Chamber of Olhão and the leaders of the Union of Fisheries of the South, of the Association of Residents of Ilha da Culatra and the Cooperativa Formosa, tried to enter in the building it is that the human mass “woke up”.
At this time, there were some protests, as there were those who argued that "if one enters, all enter". Even so, it ended up being only the representatives of the associations and the mayor from Olhano to enter, to speak with two technicians from IPMA.
Outside, the dominant topic of conversation was, of course, the new classification of production areas. Even because the measure could not have been taken at a worse time, in the view of the professionals.
“Now, at this time of Christmas, that's when seafood is out. Then we have until May. If by then we don't ship all the shellfish, the waters start to heat up, the shellfish spawns and gets weaker”, illustrated nurseryman Joaquim Mendonça.
At the moment, the area in which he has his nursery is classified as C, but he guarantees that analyzes carried out «not long ago give it as A». With the new classification, the clams "are for giving to chickens, they are for nothing," he said, discouraged.
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