The fishing sector demands greater training supply to address digital transformation.

The Port of Vigo, the Cooperative of Shipowners (ARVI), the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), the University of Vigo, and the Institute for Sustainable Business Growth (ICSEM) joined forces this morning to hold a seminar on the training needs in the fishing sector.

The seminar, framed within the BlueFishing Training project, featured the participation of the President of the Port Authority of Vigo, Jesús Vázquez Almuiña, the Director-General of Fishery Development, Susana Rodríguez, the President of the Cooperative of Shipowners, Javier Touza, the Director of Campus do Mar and Marine Research Center, Daniel Rey, and the Director of ICSEM, Yolanda Molares, among others.

During the meeting, the five entities from Vigo and the Canary Islands forming the group, along with the project's technical team, presented the results of the diagnostic analysis of the state of training and the labor market in the fishing subsectors (coastal fishing, deep-sea fishing, and marketing and port logistics) to representatives of the sector. They also introduced the Advisory Committee of the project.

This diagnosis, based on surveys and interviews conducted with a sample of representatives from the three subsectors under study, has identified training needs and deficiencies, with the aim of designing a plan for training pathways and three pilot training programs to enhance the capacities and lifelong learning of the fishing sector.

In this context, the study clearly highlights the difficulty in finding courses adapted to the sector's needs, as well as the limited training offerings provided by companies to their employees. Therefore, it emphasizes the importance of providing more affordable training to address the sector's digitalization and diversification towards marine tourism.

What is BlueFishing Training?

BlueFishing Training is a project aimed at promoting innovative approaches to strengthen cooperation between the extractive fishing industry and the scientific community, enhancing the transfer of experiences and knowledge in terms of training, research, and innovation to reinforce the sector's competitiveness in sustainable fishing.

With this project, funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU, through the General Secretariat of Fisheries as the fund manager, it is expected to promote the competitiveness of the target sectors by providing companies with access to skilled professionals with market-demanded skills.

Likewise, training centers will be able to obtain direct information from the sector and reformulate or propose new training strategies, either in the short term by implementing the designed training pathways or collectively with authorities and sector support to promote the update of regulated training programs.

At the forefront of innovation and marine environmental care

As highlighted by Vázquez Almuiña, this project aims to "highlight the good health enjoyed by the Galician fishing sector and position it at the forefront of innovation and marine environmental care."

He emphasized that the sector "has faced significant challenges worldwide" and therefore "it is important to collaborate in providing continuous training in digital transformation and environmental changes to all seafarers, to stay abreast of new trends and develop strategies to face emerging challenges."

In this regard, he recalled that the institution he presides over strongly promotes education and individuals through its European strategy for sustainable blue economy, with projects such as MarENet, co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) of the European Commission and recognized with the Atlantic Project Award 2020 in the category of marine training and ocean literacy, as well as the promotion of improving professional competencies in the maritime fishing field, funded by the Biodiversity Foundation and in collaboration with the General Directorate of Fishery Development (Xunta de Galicia).