Authorities from Galicia and Cape Verde met to analyze the progress of the collaboration that the Xunta maintains with the Cape Verdean Government in terms of management and marketing and fisheries infrastructures.

The meeting is part of the stay of the general director of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Technological Innovation of Galicia, Mercedes Rodríguez, in the Cape Verdean island of San Vicente, on the occasion of the celebration of Expomar Fair.

During the meeting, the Minister of Economy and Employment of the Government of Cape Verde, José de la Silva Gonçalves, and the Director General addressed different issues related to European control standards, with traceability, management and exploitation of fishery resources and also with training of crew.

These objectives were established in the memorandum of understanding signed by the Government of the Xunta and the Cape Verdean Government in early 2016 to relaunch a permanent collaboration in fisheries. This report also has among its objectives the promotion of the use of fishing and port infrastructures.

In addition, the two parties discussed issues on improving the capabilities of Galician companies based in Cape Verde. An example is Atunlo, the Basque-Galician company to which the Frio de Mindelo complex belongs, on the Cape Verdean island of San Vicente. This plant has a production capacity of 100 tonnes of tuna products per day and it is equipped to eviscerate, fillet, freeze and pack tuna loins and large raw pelagics. In addition, it has a cold storage capacity of 3,000 tonnes and serves as a logistical point of operation for all fleets fishing in the Atlantic Ocean in general and for the Galician one in particular, especially for the tuna and surface longline fleet operating in this area.

The director general of Fisheries also met with the president of the public entity that manages the ports of Cape Verde (ENAPOR), Jorge Pimenta Maurício, with whom she dealt with matters such as the reinforcement of the logistic capacity of Cape Verde ports, the development of projects of blue growth and collaboration to standardize processes for compliance with European Union regulations, among other aspects. This will be complemented by a visit that the ENAPOR president plans to make in Galicia and Brussels by the middle of next year.

Expomar Fair is organized by the Ministry of Economy and Employment of Cape Verde. This event brings together national and international players from different marine economy activities such as transport, fishing and fish processing, business promotion, port management, nautical services, insurance, education, financial services, equipment, food, maritime safety and cruise tourism, among others. It also hosts international conferences, seminars and workshops and promotes business meetings.

Source: FIS