António Miguel Pina, mayor of Olhão, took advantage of the seminar promoted, on Friday, the 16th, by the municipality's Business Support Office, to mark the National Day of the Sea, to ask for more space to develop aquaculture activity in the Algarve region.
The mayor, who started the work of the seminar “Sector of the Sea in Olhão and Algarve – Threats and Opportunities”, highlighted that, between 2014 and 2018, “Olhão moved from the municipality with the highest unemployment rate in the region to the one that has the second lowest rate. In other words, new jobs have emerged, linked to tourism and the sea”.
António Pina, for whom fisheries are under great threats, defended that “we have a sector with a great future, but which cannot grow if we do not look at the instruments for managing the territory”.
The seminar took place at the Municipal Auditorium of Olhão, with about a hundred participants, including the Secretary of State for Fisheries, José Apolinário, also from Olhão, who here celebrated a day of great symbolism for Olhão and took messages to the Government.
For her part, Teresa Almeida, manager of the Mar 2020 program, referred to the importance of “making the best possible use of the resources that the sea has”. This is why Mar 2020 exists, having already supported many initiatives in this area. “In the Algarve, we have 264 approved projects, 83 of which are in Olhão”, revealed the person in charge.
The vision of those working in the sector was given by Jorge Ferreira (Conserveira do Sul), Jorge Dias (Sparos), João Navalho (Necton), João Bastos (SunConcept), Rui Fonseca (Algarfresco), Marta Rocha (Cooperativa Formosa), Fernando Gonçalves (Portuguese Aquaculture Association – APA), Miguel Cardoso (Olhãopesca) and Rui Roque (Nautiber).
If Conserveira do Sul is betting on less mechanized labor, Sparos operates in a very specific market niche: food for aquaculture, generating young and qualified employment.
Necton, on the other hand, contributes greatly so that 98% of the salt consumed nationwide is produced and packaged in Olhão.
At SunConcept, we are committed to clean energy; this shipbuilding company produces boats that run on solar energy. Algarfresco, which operates in the area of fish freezing, is struggling with the “restriction on sardine fishing” on the Portuguese coast.
Associations linked to aquaculture, such as Formosa, are facing problems related to bivalve mortality, diseases or the appearance of exotic species (japonica clams), applauding the construction of the new WWTP.
At national level, the APA recalls the need to curb invasive species and create spaces to produce, since Portugal imports 2/3 of the fish it consumes.
Illegal fishing and climate change were identified as threats by the head of Olhãopesca.
Nauiber, a shipbuilding company, continues with important orders, but its manager Rui Roque reminds us that “the fishermen's problems are Nauiber's problems”.
The Secretary of State for Fisheries, who noted the problems pointed out by those who work at sea, referred to the problematic issues, but also spoke of what the region has achieved: in 2017, the sale of fish at the auctions was 12 thousand tons ( representing 45 million euros); Until 31 October of this year, the value of auction sales has reached 37 million euros and 25% (about 4500) of fishing boats nationwide are registered in the Algarve, a region that represents 60% of the national production of bivalves .
José Apolinário, who revealed that the support approved for Olhão, under the Mar 2020 program, represents 12,5 million euros in investment, did not forget to address the challenges for the sector, such as environmental sustainability, the correct management of spaces from Ria Formosa, the importance of the appellation of origin or the idea of a cluster for the sector.
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