Terceira’s line fishermen are demanding supervision at sea to prevent longliners from invading the six-mile zone around the island with their fishing gear, where fishing is only allowed with lines.
According to the DI (Diário Insular) newspaper, fishermen said it was impossible to solve the problem by complaining to the Maritime Authority and the GNR (police force) by phone. They also claim that the regional government’s promises of better enforcement have never been fulfilled. “The government said the problem wouldn’t go beyond last year. But we’re already in February, and things haven’t changed,” one of the fishermen who complained told DI.
According to the complainants, longliners are setting longlines with ten to twelve thousand hooks within six miles and even along the coast. “Sometimes they surround our boats with longlines,” said one fisherman. He added that the activity of the longliners in the forbidden space is not only clearly visible but also ends up leaving devices stuck in the rocks.”
According to the fishermen who spoke to us, “there are fewer and fewer fish” around Terceira, and “with the cleaning that the longliners do, the situation keeps getting worse.” Line fishermen are even finding it difficult to catch the minimum catch stipulated for them to continue their activity.
Line fishing allows them to catch, on average, between five and 10 tons a year, although there have been cases of less than two tons. As for longliners, they fish, on average, between 40 and 50 tons a year.
“What we want is just enforcement. And we’ve waited too long. That’s why we want people to know what’s going on,” said one fisherman. He added that the regional government had promised agreements with the navy to patrol the conflict zones, but he said that neither he nor his colleagues had seen any such activity.

MONITORING EVERYTHING
According to the fishermen who spoke to DI, monitoring shouldn’t just stop at the sea.
We need to monitor what happens on land, on the quayside, and even inside the fish market,” the fishermen agreed.
They say there are suspicions that fish don’t go through the auction and are squandering resources outside the law. The fishermen who contacted us say they have videos to prove it.
On the other hand, they are calling for checks to be carried out inside the fish market to determine whether a boat is legal to unload fish and have certain quantities listed in the name of another vessel. They claim that these episodes happen frequently.
“What we want is to work in peace and within the law and that can’t be done without supervision,” said one of the fishermen.
According to the fishermen who contacted the DI newspaper, Terceira Island has 84 professional fishing boats, half longliners and the others.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço-Director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.