On the same boat, supporting the fishermen of San Foca

This 3-year project provides to fishermen, whose vessels are operating permanently in the harbour of San Foca, with equipment, tools, and support to promote safety, improve fishing efficiency and make the fleet more sustainable.

TAP provides to the vessel owners the chance to renovate their boats according to their individual needs.

The project is flexible, as each owner can choose from a list of eligible activities, such as: supply of fishing nets, purchase of electronic devices, shipping equipment or professional clothing, and engine replacement.

Certain measures such as the ordinary maintenance of the vessel’s hull and engine, the provision of safety devices and other types of activities that aim at promoting safety onboard are mandatory for the project beneficiaries.

The ‘On the same boat’ project is the result of strong collaboration between TAP and the fishing communities in San Foca. TAP held individual and group meetings with the interested parties and thanks to this process the company was able to gather their requests and understand their needs.

Fernando Orlando, President of the Cooperative Il Delfino stated:

I am happy that TAP kept its promises and, therefore, we have managed to carry out this very demanding project.  In the future it would be great to retain this close cooperation and implement more initiatives, such as the supply of a dredging vessel or the allocation of a vessel and resources to perform seabed cleaning operations to reduce pollution from the plastic waste. Indeed, whenever we are offshore, we always run into plastic bags which wrap around our vessel’s propellers. Another project could be installing barriers to prevent illegal fishing activities.

Cosimo Montinaro, President of the Cooperative La Folgore said::

The ‘On the same boat’ project was extremely beneficial for the local fishermen. We now have the opportunity to renovate our boats with cutting-edge equipment. The entire fishing community is very satisfied by the project. We often go fishing to the point where the pipeline lays offshore, and we have met people bathing and sailing right there, just as they did before TAP was constructed.

To manage the project, TAP entered a partnership with HydraCoop, a local company specialized in the fishing sector. HydraCoop is responsible for providing technical assistance and ensuring that the operations are carried out in compliance with the terms and conditions of the call launched by TAP.

As of today, all the vessels moored in the harbour of San Foca which meet the project requirements have had access to the support financed by TAP.

On top of the advantages for the direct beneficiaries, the ‘On the Same Boat’ project brings added value to the entire fishing and local seafaring sector, and other related industries.

In fact, 92% of the companies which supplied the necessary equipment and services for the project were from Apulia, 73% of which coming from Lecce.