Brazil Agrees Finance For Fishing Fleet ff
22 January 2003
Brazil
In a bid to boost economic growth and fisheries development, the authorities are allowing the Merchant Navy Fund (FMM) to finance the building of fishing vessels. Aquaculture and Fisheries Secretary José Fritsch formalized the agreement at a meeting, held last week, to discuss basic strategies for the sustainable development of fisheries under the new administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Minister José Fritsch told delegates that the fishing sector was high on the new government's agenda and he stressed how important the National Aquaculture Policy was, as it not only includes the modernization of fishery fleets, but also "the specialisation of the workforce."
Vitorino Doménech, director of the Merchant Navy Department, who attended the meeting along with Members of Parliament, fishing sector businessmen and representatives from fishermen's and naval industry unions, proposed temporarily modifying the FMM regulations, which only allowed the financing of merchant navy vessels.
He said it would help the Ministry of Fisheries to better define the market that will use the fund's resources if it specified more clearly the category of vessels that could be financed by the FMM.
Itajaà Fishing Industry Union leader Antônio Carlos Momm welcomed the move to allow the FMM to finance the building of a modern, national fishing fleet.
But he says the price of diesel oil for fishing vessels should be reduced, as it is currently three times higher than the average international price. And the union also wants the authorities to modify the ban schedules on some species, reports Mercado da Pesca.
Source: Fish Information and Services
