Portugal is set to tighten the enforcement against illegal fishing in its national waters, the government announced on Wednesday. Speaking at the UN Ocean Conference concerning the presence of foreign vessels in national waters, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro was unequivocal:
“We are firmly committed to strengthening surveillance. How unfair would it be to impose restrictions on our fishermen while seeing the rules violated by those coming from foreign countries into our waters? That would be an unacceptable situation,” he stated.
The Prime Minister further added, “We are here to carry out all monitoring capabilities in a very assertive manner.”
Montenegro announced that the government is “already creating mechanisms to particularly compensate fishermen who will be more restricted in carrying out their operations.”
“We have every willingness to support the fishermen when they face the effects of our measures, which ultimately strive to balance all the values at stake: the income fishermen derive from their activity, their livelihood—a crucial aspect we deeply consider. But, at the same time, we must preserve, manage climate change, and deepen scientific knowledge,” he said.
