FIS (Analia Murias): The Socialist Fisheries & Aquaculture Institute (INSOPESCA) plans to build a sardine processing plant in the sector of Guaca-Guatapanare in Sucre state. The plant will require an investment of just over Bs.F 23 million ($10.7 million), and will be the nation's largest.

The plant will have a daily processing capacity of 70 tonnes of sardines and an initial impact of 300 direct jobs and 150 indirect ones, revealed the president of INSOPESCA, Gilberto Gimenez. Although he did not mention the exact date of the project's culmination, he confirmed that ground and environmental impact studies have already been finalised, Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias reports.

The project falls under an agreement of cooperation signed with Spain, which allows for the construction of 38 fishing centres in different strategically vital points of Venezuela. According to Gimenez, other projects involving infrastructure and fish product distribution are also underway.

Besides the construction of the sardine processing plant, INSOPESCA plans to install a fishing wharf, which would allow fishers to harvest landings directly at the plant and diminish processing time. Another project in the works involves a House of the Fisherman, which will distribute marine ironworks products and offer facilities to store fishing gear, amass processed fish and fish for production, as well as dispatch the product directly to consumers.

The centers supported by INSOPESCA will allocate their production to the "planned communal markets" to satisfy the food requirements of communities in need.

Offering food free of charge to poorer communities "is an experience that is already successfully in practice with other companies of the State, like the tuna fishing firm Antonio Jose de Sucre. It is possible thanks to socio-economic studies pursued by organised communities," Gimenez added.

Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com

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