Frozen bonito. (Photo: Lameiro)
PORTUGAL
Friday, January 18, 2013, 23:50 (GMT + 9)
Azores Islands Government decided to release about 100 tonnes of bonito from Empresa Sociedad Corretora that were in a cold storage.
The tuna lot that was stored in the cold storage of Santa Maria will be delivered to the cannery through Lotaçor, so it can immediately continue its production process.
Corretora is expected to comply "with a payment plan approved by the region," Correio da Manhã informed.
Likewise, it is anticipated that Corretora will answer the most urgent orders that are pending and keep the "jobs", said the local executive.
Lotaçor explained that while fishing for tuna, canning companies acquire fish for the industry directly from regional shipowners through supply contracts entered into between the two parties, Lusa agency reported.
According to Lotaçor’s chairman of the board, Jose Luis Amaral, "adding to the unloading, freezing and fish preserving costs," the company " plans to undertake fishermen Social Security, ship and at work accident insurance charges.”
Finally, he stressed that it is “financially unsustainable" for Lotaçor to "maintain this social role alongside the fishing industry without, at least, the compliance or the prospect that the canneries will pay regularly."