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Moving more than 700,000 tons of fresh and frozen fishing products each year, the Port of Vigo is a referent in fisheries. Jesús Paz, President of the Port Authority, is in charge of it and recognizes the importance of the fisheries sector in the port as a whole, highlighting the respect for its environmental, quality, safety and sustainability rules. 'The sustainable management of its fishing activity makes the port of Vigo become great', he says.
Could you take stock of your management as President of the Port Authority of Vigo?
My personal balance after a year and a half leading the Port Authority of Vigo is reasonably satisfactory; but not only due to my own work, but also due to the understanding, collaboration and support of the Port Community in general. But I would also like to say that I am excited and implicated in the task we are facing: the development of the Port of Vigo is, for me, a fascinating challenge.
We are now designing a Proxecto Común (Common Project) for the growth and development of the port, which has reached a wide consensus. This comprehensive planning will be expressed in the Plan Director de Infraestructuras Portuarias (Port Infrastructures Management Plan) and the Plan de Utilización de Espacios Portuarios (Plan for the Use of Port Spaces), that will be soon put on the table, before summer, to be precise.
My essential priority is to improve the current operational ability of our docks with more and better mooring lines that, at the same time, would have more depth; not forgetting the day-to-day economy of Vigo and its area of influence, which is our main duty. I work really hard to achieve this goal and I sincerely think that we are on the right track.
Currently, which are the main projects on your agenda regarding the fisheries sector?
Consolidating and strengthening the Port of Vigo, as main world referent in terms of fishing for human consumption, is one of our essential goals. Recognizing the quality and safety of its products is really important. We also want to meet the requirements of auxiliary companies in the fisheries sector, which are betting for us in Vigo and trust us.
As for specific projects, we are entirely restoring O Berbés, which was an unresolved matter; and expanding the Border Inspection Post, which was also urgent. We are also improving the depth of fishing docks, closing the main façade of the loading dock in the littoral fish market, and fitting out a specific space for the auction of quality products, in order to meet all the requirements entailed by the name ‘PescadeRías’, as a guarantee of quality.
Facing the future, the most important project that we have is, obviously, the extension of the fishing port, which is included in our global proposal for a comprehensive development, and that will be reflected in the new port plan, which is being studied and written.
Vigo is the main European fishing port with production for human consumption, as well as the base for most of the Spanish fleet and for an important naval and auxiliary shipbuilding fisheries industry. Nevertheless, a negative image of the fishing port and its activity has sometimes been transmitted to the public, against the positive image generated by economy; do you think that this viewpoint is different nowadays?
I have never had that negative appreciation, but quite the opposite. In my time as leader of the Port Authority, I have always had favourable perceptions of admiration, interest and recognition about the fishing port. Every single authority from a country linked to fisheries that comes to Vigo wants to visit O Berbés.
On the other hand, given the diversity of traffic that characterizes and strengthens the Port of Vigo, fisheries is for me the most important sector, due both to the employment that it creates and the wealth it generates. This is unquestionable, and the sector knows that they can rely on my support. We have been, are and will be the sea, with a fishing vocation that cannot be waived.
In September, Vigo will host the WFE, what do you think about the impact of the celebration of this event in the fisheries activity of the city? Will the Port Authority hold any event coinciding with the celebration of the World Fishing Exhibition?
In our opinion, the WFE is the most important worldwide appointment for the fisheries sector. From the very first moment, we have been in contact with the organization and have been at their disposal, so they have our entire support.
The Port Authority of Vigo wants to be in a par with the WFE, and of course we are going to do some things. However, for the moment, I would like to keep it in secret; we will say it in due course. Until the moment comes, I repeat that we are at WFE’s disposal for anything they need.
The slogan chosen by the WFE-Vigo’09 for this year is ‘Governing the Oceans’. It aims to attract attention and demonstrate the importance of a sustainable management of the fishing activity. What is your point of view about it and which are the sustainable policies applied by the Port of Vigo?
When I became President of the Port Authority of Vigo, I said that our actions would be based in four fundamental mainstays: quality, safety, environment and sustainability. Therefore, the management of the oceans is for me an essential issue: all our actions follow a sustainability criterion, which is a compulsory requirement.
In my opinion, the slogan chosen by WFE is a great decision. The sustainable management of its fishing activity makes the port of Vigo become great. The thing consists on assessing it qualitatively, not quantitatively. I believe that Vigo is nowadays the reference point for the management of the fishing world.
ISO 9001 on quality, ISO 18000 on safety and ISO 14001 on environmental management make O Berbés become the most ambitious fishing port regarding the compliance with environmental and hygienic-sanitary requirements. What do these standards represent for the people working in the fishing port?
ISO standards represent for our workers an engagement with responsibility in their jobs. O Berbés is an example in this sense. That is why I said before that I had never seen any negative image of O Berbés. The Fishing Port is an international referent in the strictest compliance of environmental and hygienic-sanitary requirements.
The Spanish Ministry of Public Works has the Draft for the Law of Ports on the table, how do you think that fishing would be affected and which position will it maintain with this new legislation?
In my opinion, the new law must consider the implementation of special measures in the fisheries sector. Things cannot be reduced to quotas and catches.
We have to open up to a basic sector with a multisectorial perspective: from taxes applied to goods transferred at the port and their auction in the fish market, to the safety of products and installations, including the improvement of their commercialization, transport and conservation.
We also have to be aware of the auxiliary activities around the vessel, its crew and needs, not forgetting auxiliary administrative tasks, which turn the Port of Vigo into a world fishing centre in the current context characterized by a special and delicate situation for markets. This is how we are going to explain and defend it in this Port Authority.
