The new auction in Tavira, to be built in the Quatro Águas area, should be a reality «by the end of 2022» and will cost around 700 euros, revealed Sérgio Faias, chairman of the Board of Directors of Docapesca, last Thursday.
The head of the company that manages the auctions in Portugal was in Tavira to accompany Teresa Coelho, Secretary of State for Fisheries, who came to this council to inaugurate the new floating piers on the riverside of the city, for fishermen and maritime-tourist vessels , which also resulted from an intervention by Docapesca.
This was a symbolic ceremony, taking into account that the infrastructures have been in operation for about a year.
Hence, the future auction and the presentation made by Sérgio Faias on the progress of the process were the highlight of the afternoon.
“It's already happening. The entire process has already started, we have obtained the respective licenses and the respective authorizations from the authorities that have jurisdiction over this area here, in addition to Docapesca. Having obtained these authorizations, we started the process of preparing the implementation project, which is currently being done and will be delivered to us by the beginning of January. At that time, we will be able to launch the respective public tender», described the president of Docapesca.
As for the deadline for completion of the work, Sérgio Faias believes that, «completing all the formalities of public contracting, I hope that we are in a position to start the work before the summer and that by the end of 2022, we can start working».
“This set of works improves fishermen's safety conditions and food safety. Our objective is always the same: to increase the fishermen's income and value the fish», illustrated Teresa Coelho.
This is true for fishermen, but also for maritime-tourists, who are also under the responsibility of the company. “The wharves improved the conditions for carrying out the activity and helped to increase companies' income. All this contributes to the blue economy», said the Secretary of State for Fisheries.
Sérgio Faias, for his part, made known what the future auction will be.
"The goal is to have a fish auction with a veterinary control number, with conditions to be able to make the first sale of fish, with some ice production capacity for own consumption in the fish auction to ensure the hygiene and food safety conditions of the fish and some access conditions to have security for the unloading of fish for the boats that come here to load», he described.
The future point of unloading and 1st sale of Tavirense fish will be built in a place further downstream from Gilão than the old fish market, almost at the mouth of the river and right at the entrance of Quatro Águas, where the access pier to the islands and where there are several restaurants.
Before, the auction was located next to the old market, in the area where the new wharves that were inaugurated are located. Initially, the idea was to build a new building in the same place where the previous one existed.
But, when demolishing the outdated infrastructure that served before the auction, it was found that the ground did not have the necessary stability to support a building of the magnitude of what was projected, which would require a very costly intervention, as he explained to Sul Informação the then president of the Chamber Jorge Botelho.
A new solution was then sought, which fell to the existing shipyards on the access to Quatro Águas. Docapesca, which is responsible for the space, reached an agreement with the concessionaire and will take advantage of the part of the land that borders a car park.
"This point where we identified the installation site is a strategic point that is very close to the entrance to the bar, which allows different communities here in the region, fishing communities to come here to unload their fish and then go to the shelter areas own, whether in the center of Tavira or in Cabanas de Tavira, or some also in Santa Luzia», summarized Sérgio Faias.
Taking into account that the intervention zone is already a Natural Park, Docapesca had to adapt the project and proceed with mitigation measures.
The first was an environmental intervention, which has already allowed two barges that were abandoned to be removed from the site and a third vessel of the same type will be removed from this area.
The barges “were deposited here with environmental risks. This was identified in the previous phase of the project and it was articulated both with the Portuguese Environment Agency and with the Ria Formosa Natural Park, that any intervention carried out here should take into account the removal of these vessels, in order to guarantee their recovery. environment of the space and the improvement of the environmental conditions of the entire environment».
Also because, as this is a space for the first sale of fish, «the environment also has to meet the hygiene conditions and this is the aspect that we are also working on».
On the other hand, a removable infrastructure will be built, which can be quickly removed from the site at any time.
“This means that we are not going to build a pile zone, in this area, to support infrastructure. In practice, there will be a slab on which an infrastructure that can be removed will be placed. We are talking about containerized structures, which come pre-fabricated and which are then assembled and installed here in the final version, with the respective connections of water, sewage and electricity networks», described the president of Docapesca.
The fact that the building will be prefabricated «allows the entire construction process to be faster, because they can be in parallel to those being made on site and here only the respective assembly is done».
Basically, it is a two-in-one: on the one hand, a fish market is built that has been claimed by the fishing community and, on the other hand, an area that was degraded, half-walled with a place with strong tourist aptitude.
«A few years ago, there was an intervention here by the Polis Ria Formosa, which rehabilitated the entire area of Quatro Águas, but an area remained here that had no intervention. An opportunity has now been identified to carry out the environmental rehabilitation of this area as well. The project encompasses part of this rehabilitation, namely the removal of waste that has accumulated here, resulting from the activity of the existing shipyard, and the planting of some native species, so that this environmental enhancement of the space can actually take place." concluded Sérgio Faias.
“Due to the closure of the fish market on Pires Padinha street, a need was created here for the fishermen, who are currently using the Santa Luzia fish market, which is clearly insufficient”. said, in turn, Ana Paula Martins, president of the Chamber of Tavira.
Thus, «the City Council proposed the relocation here to Quatro Águas, Docapesca is developing the project and we hope that the contract starts as soon as possible, so that this structure, which is a necessity, becomes a reality».
With regard to the “present”, which is having the requalification of the shipyard area that borders the area that was intervened by the Polis, “it is also important”.
«At the time we carried out the requalification, in partnership with Sociedade Polis, the issue of the shipyards and sandpit remained pending. Docapesca has been working to resolve these situations and, soon, we will also have this area recovered and with more dignity», he considered.
As for the dredging work of the channel and the installation of floating piers on the riverside of the city, which had been officially inaugurated moments before, Ana Paula Martins considers that it was «important, especially for ordering the fishing boats, which were on the fishing shore, as well. as those who transport to the island of Tavira and the maritime-tourists».
«In the impossibility of having a fishing port already, this solution allows planning and providing better conditions», he believes.
Also with a view to improving the working conditions and safety of seamen, dredging is being carried out in the Tavira bar and in the different access channels in the Ria Formosa.
«The idea of the intervention of the General Directorate of Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM) is, precisely, to improve the safety conditions in the access to Quatro Águas. And what we talked and agreed with DGRM was that they would extend a little to this area, where the fish market will be installed, to ensure that the funds where this floating pier will be installed later allow everything to work safely, without any restriction of access and maneuvering of vessels», concluded Sérgio Faias.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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