Posted on January 7, 2025
The intervention, which is under public consultation, is intended to be able to operate the support pier for its offshore aquaculture facilities
Seaculture – Aquicultura SA intends to carry out maintenance dredging in the southern area of the Vila Real de Santo António Fishing Port, with a view to restoring the essential water level for the navigation of vessels involved in fishing and aquaculture activities. The application for TUPEM (Private Use of Maritime Space) has been open for public consultation since 31 December and until 21 January.
Seaculture is an aquaculture company of the Jerónimo Martins group, which is investing 10 million euros in Vila Real de Santo António, planning to install 28 production units at sea, construct an operational building from scratch, with a warehouse and fish packaging area, as well as a support pier.
The infrastructure is expected to have the capacity to produce, in aquaculture offshore, around 1500 tons of sea bream and sea bass by 2025, the project’s cruise year.
The approval of the concession contract between Docapesca and Seaculture for the installation of a set of infrastructures to support aquaculture activities and fish processing and packaging, in the riverside area of VRSA took place on March 1st of last year, as o Sul Informação then reported.
In order to build and operate the support pier, Seaculture plans to dredge an area of 7200 square meters (120mx60m), bordering the access to the Vila Real de Santo António Fishing Port, «with a view to restoring the -2,50 m (ZH) level», considered «essential for the navigation of vessels involved in fishing and aquaculture activities».
Area to be dredged represented in light green
According to a the public consultation documents, Seaculture – Aquicultura has the concession of this portion of the public maritime domain from Docapesca, and is authorized to carry out the aforementioned dredging within the scope of the concession contract signed between the parties.
In this area, water levels close to 0.00m (ZH) are currently recorded, “putting at risk the safety of vessels that circulate there, especially those with greater draft, and significantly compromising the operationality of the Fishing Port”.
According to the TUPEM request, “the maintenance dredging that is the subject of this claim is limited to the minimum operation necessary to guarantee safety, thus constituting an essential and urgent work”.
According to the Hydrographic Survey, which is also included in the list of documents available at portal Participate, 10.400 cubic meters of sediment resulting from dredging will be deposited in the sea, approximately «6 nautical miles south of the Vila Real de Santo António Bar». This is the same location where the DGRM had previously authorized «similar operations, promoted by a neighboring entity, more specifically by the Guadiana Recreational Port».
For this dredging and deposition of material at sea, a six-month deadline is foreseen, since “the work is subject to the availability of suitable resources on the market and the need to carry out the work only in favourable sea conditions”, as can be read in the TUPEM request.
The document also highlights that “both the total quantity to be immersed and the expected daily deposition rate are extremely low (<500 m3/day)”.
You can consult all the documentation and register to participate in the public consultation on the Participa portal, by clicking here.
