Azores Situation Report Wednesday 22nd November 2023
Travel allowance for pregnant women in the Azores extended to companions.
Companions of pregnant women on islands without a hospital in the Azores will have access to a subsidy when traveling to another island for the birth, as of the entry into force of the next State Budget.
The “subsidy due to the need to travel to a hospital unit located outside the pregnant woman’s island of residence, to deliver the baby”, which was already granted to the pregnant woman, is now extended to the companion, who can be the spouse, living in a civil partnership or be a relative in the direct line or in the 2nd degree of the collateral line.
There are only hospitals on three of the nine islands in the Azores, so pregnant women from Santa Maria, São Jorge, Graciosa, Pico, Flores and Corvo must go to hospitals in São Miguel, Terceira and Faial to deliver.
PSP carries out Gunsmiths in Security operation.
The Regional Command of the Public Security Police (PSP) of the Azores begins this Monday several inspections of gunsmiths in the archipelago, which will run until Friday, the police force announced.
In a statement, the PSP indicated that this operation, called Armeiros em Segurança, is part of the strategy outlined by the police “in terms of control of weapons, ammunition and explosives”.
According to the PSP, the activity of licensing weapons and explosives is carried out at a regional level “through the systematic use of all available technological resources, namely the Weapons and Explosives Information and Management System (SIGAE), which should and can be enhanced in inspection actions”.
New species of seafood discovered in the Azores with potential for exploration.
A new species of shellfish was discovered in the Azores, in the bay of Praia da Vitória, in Terceira, a population of razor clams, the feasibility of exploitation of which “is now being studied by the Regional Government”.
The discovery was made by the Oceanic Studies Group and Naturalist – Science and Tourism, during the “Azores 2023” expedition.
This expedition, by the Oceanic Studies Group, specifically made it possible to discover a population of razor clams (Solen marginatus) in the bay of Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island, in the Azores, details Naturalist, in a press release.
The discovery was made by Professor Alberto Machado, founder of the Oceanic Studies Group, during the “Azores 2023” expedition, which in partnership with the start-up MARE Naturalist – Science and Tourism, and in collaboration with OKEANOS (Institute of Research in Sciences do Mar), from the University of the Azores, “are committed to coordinating the mapping work and feasibility of exploring the species”.
The researchers believe that along with “the famous clams from Caldeira de Santo Cristo”, on the island of São Jorge, “the limpets and Caramujo, this could become a unique delicacy, a target for exploration and an alternative to the harvesting activity trade in the region, if properly regulated”.
According to Naturalist, Science and Tourism, an academic-based company in the Azores and founded by researchers from the University of Lisbon and the Azores, the feasibility of exploiting the new species “is now being studied by the Regional Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate of Fisheries “.
The company adds that a scientific publication has already been submitted with the results of the initial campaign and a proposal has been put forward to the Regional Government to finance a study on its distribution and abundance to support the taking of management measures for sustainable exploitation.
Until further information, the collection of the new species “is prohibited”, warns Naturalist.