87 boats, 11 nurserymen and three shellfish gatherers from Culatra joined the project “Fishing for a sea without garbage”, which was officially launched in this fishing center yesterday, 21st of August. This initiative by the Ministry of the Sea, which is being implemented by Docapesca, has just arrived in the Algarve, but has already had more than a hundred fishing professionals.
Bearing in mind that the project's objective is to make those who work at sea agents in the service of ocean preservation, this adhesion is significant.
As summarized this Monday, the Minister of the Sea Ana Paula Vitorino, the project "Fishing for a sea without garbage" aims to ensure that the waste resulting from fishing is not thrown overboard. “We want to ensure that, on the boats, there are conditions so that the sea can be kept clean, because garbage is accommodated and this is brought ashore, to be recycled and reused. Also in the auctions, there will be this concern», he assured.
Yesterday, in addition to the presentation of the project and the attraction of partners within the fishing community, two points were also created for the disposal of waste collected on land.
Another component of this project is the training of fishing professionals. «The fishermen and their associations, in general, have been partners in new policies related to the sea, both in terms of stock preservation policies and in terms of environmental policies. They are fantastic people who have collaborated and have been pioneers in these programs», added Ana Paula Vitorino.
The project started by being launched in Peniche, and has now been extended to Ilha da Culatra, in Faro, where there is a large fishing community. The “Fishing for a sea without garbage” will also be extended to Aveiro.
The pilot project, started in 2016 at the fishing port of Peniche, brought together eight entities, three producer organizations, 66 boats and 419 fishermen. “So far, 118 containers have been delivered to Peniche vessels, 151.875 liters of plastic and 295.000 liters of unsorted waste have been collected and 24 awards have been given to participating vessels for their good environmental practices,” according to Docapesca.
At Culatra, Docapesca has a partnership with the City Council of Faro, Association of Residents of Ilha da Culatra, Algar, FAGAR and the Portuguese Association of Marine Waste.
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