In the plenary session, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, explained that “fisheries are a strategic sector for Portugal”, but for this to happen, “vessels need to have people to operate them”, which is why the Government requested authorization so that it can change the legislation in the sector.

Otherwise, this year, “between 10 and 15 percent of vessels may have to stop because they do not have minimum safety crews”, which would correspond to a loss of 35 to 40 million euros in revenue, explained the minister, considering that the proposal “meets the demands of the sector associations”.

Today, more than 60% of fishing vessels “can only be crewed by foreign seafarers,” he explained.

Current law allows vessels to operate with a maximum of 40% of crew members who are not nationals of the European Union, the European Economic Area (EEA) or a Portuguese-speaking country.

The new law maintains this limit but expands the exceptions, after agreements with the authorities of the immigrants' countries of origin, also facilitating the recognition of certifications, another of the current problems.

The government's proposal extends the period in which each crew member remains in the same category from three to five years. Currently, crew members who were unable to move up a category would have to be fired, according to the executive.

In the debate, MP Paulo Núncio (CDS) admitted that the maritime sector “faces a worrying lack of labour”, recalling data that indicate a decrease of more than 10 percent of the 16 thousand fishermen that existed in the country in 2018.

Nuno Simões de Melo (Chega) criticised the measure, accusing the Government of having shown its “inability to make the activity” of fishing attractive and demanded incentives to hire Portuguese people.

“We would like to see incentives for hiring measures for nationals and not the opening of more immigrants to this sector,” he explained.