Fishing terminal in Santos: entity opposes transfer to the Port; location will have a new auction

With the concession, the idea is for the private sector to make investments in order to improve the site, such as renovating the ice factory (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

Fishermen do not want port operations on the 7,300-square-meter area of the Santos Public Fishing Terminal (TPPS), located at Ponta da Praia. Although experts emphasize the space's relevance to the Santos dock, the Santos Port Authority (APS) also does not intend to claim the land.

“If the area were included in the Port, fishing would lose the only place in the region for unloading public fish. I do not know if the Port Authority would have interest in managing it on behalf of fishing”, says Antônio Hisashi Miki, president of the Sindicato de Pescadores e Trabalhadores Assemelhados do Estado de São Paulo (Sinpescatraesp), based in Guarujá.

The APS, while still operating as Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (Codesp), managed the Laguna Fishing Terminal in Santa Catarina from the mid-1990s until 2019, when the Union transferred the site to the Santa Catarina state government.

In a statement, the Santos dock manager makes clear it has no interest in the land, whether for port or fishing activities.

For the third time, the Federal Government will attempt to auction the TPPS, with the first phase of the bidding scheduled for this Tuesday (24). There were no interested parties in the first two attempts. The goal is to maintain and improve fishing activity at the site.

“Since the Government has no interest in managing the Fishing Terminal, I believe the best option is to transfer it to the private sector, with provisions to allow fishermen who cannot afford their own terminal to use it without having to pay for it”, says Miki.

The site and the plan The TPPS is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) and currently features a fuel station that supplies diesel oil to vessels, in addition to supporting fish unloading, washing, and sorting, as well as providing water and electricity.

With the concession, the idea is for the private sector to invest in improving the site and providing additional services, such as renovating the ice factory to supply this input to local fishermen, explained Clecius Nerby Alves da Rocha, General Coordinator of Infrastructure and Promotion at the MPA.

The first phase of the auction, scheduled for today, involves the submission, at the headquarters of the Stock Exchange (B3) in São Paulo, by interested parties, of qualification documents and commercial proposals.

There will be four Public Fishing Terminals (TPPs) in the auction, but not as a single lot. In addition to Santos, the terminals in Cananeia (Vale do Ribeira), Natal (Rio Grande do Norte), and Aracaju (Sergipe) are involved.

This stage is when the envelope containing the technical qualification documents is opened. The other envelope, containing the commercial proposal, remains with B3 until July 4, when the public auction session will be held to open, in real time, the commercial proposals qualified in the previous stage to rank the bidders, the MPA informed.