"Fortunately we will be able, in the coming months, to count with the operationalization of the scientific research vessel Baía Farta that will start, in the coming days, its first cruise of demersals [fish that live on the seabed] in the northern part of Angola," said Esperança Costa, during the closing of the conference "Economy of the Sea - Potentialities of the Marine and Fishing National Industry," held this Wednesday in Luanda.
The goal is to "assess the degree of abundance of the resource to increasingly adjust the total allowable catch to ensure the renewal of resources for the enjoyment of future generations," said the governor, who spoke remotely from Rome.
The Baía Farta arrived in Angola in 2018, but only in April this year ended the first phase of sea trials to assess whether the non-conformities and faults detected along the route Romania (country of origin)/Angola were overcome, Angop reported at the time.
Damen should have proceeded to repair the anomalies of the Angolan vessel by July 2020, but due to the restrictions imposed by covid-19 the goals were postponed.
The company and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries then negotiated the extension of the guarantee period, which ended in 2020, to July 2021, and it was agreed that Damen would begin repairing the vessel's oceanography (environmental area) faults in November 2020.
The non-conformities were mainly related to the measuring instruments, necessary to study the fishery resources in oceanographic terms.
The bet in the improvement of the fishery support infrastructures, improvement of the inspection and supervision and assertiveness in the data collection with impact in the fishery management are some of the priorities of the executive for the sector, listed by Esperança Costa.
With an annual production of around 300 to 400 thousand tons of fish, of which 30 percent comes from artisanal fishing that employs more than 50 thousand fishermen, the executive is also "improving the legal framework" having recently approved an action plan for the sector, which includes the protection of artisanal fishermen.
