Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Minister of the Sea, Jorge Santos, defended this Wednesday that the fishing sector must stop being a poor sector of society, and become a sector that creates wealth and balance.
The new Minister of the Sea, who was speaking at the end of a meeting with fishmongers and fishermen from Sal Rei, also visited the Fish Market and met with the Association of Fishermen, Fishmongers and Shipowners, to learn about the current situation in the sector.
Among the various problems presented are the difficulties in reaching the island due to the absence of a fishing pier, problems in preserving fish due to insufficient ice production, breakdowns and lack of suitable cameras, and also issues related to the safety of fishermen.
In response, the minister said that this is a commitment that they will make as a Government.
Regarding the functional issues of the market, the minister said that they will analyze the matter, but recalled that two years ago this market was restructured and some conditions were created for its operation. Jorge Santos admitted, however, the need to create more conditions for the market and see how far they can help.
The minister, however, left a challenge to the sector, that of restructuring the Association of Fishermen, Shipowners and Fishmongers, “all it takes is the will to do so” and to come out on top because “when there is an association there is someone to talk to and to reach a solution more quickly”.
The minister added that there are “several programs, the market itself has been restructured, there is the issue of training for young fishermen”.
According to the minister, these are “important issues” that must be resolved together with fishermen and shipowners, committing to work with his team to resolve the “most urgent” problems, but also to address the “bigger problems”, namely, “the problem of the transition from semi-industrial fishing to industrial fishing and the possibility of having a certified product that can be sold in the island’s hotel chains, because this is what they want”.
Another challenge, according to Jorge Santos, is that fishing is a subsector to feed the tourism chain and all the logistics of tourism development on the island of Boa Vista.
“And it has potential, now there needs to be development to make this transition,” he noted.
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