Portugal’s plentiful supply of octopus is the latest bait being used by the government to attract the Asian market.
Secretary of State for the Sea, Manuel Pinto de Abreu, has announced that the country is “committed” to hooking Asian buyers with its tentacled delicacy and that “a government representative will be travelling to Korea in November to meet a client who has shown great interest in importing Portuguese octopus”.
“We are convinced that the exporting of octopus to Asia is possible and until someone else tells us that it isn’t a good idea, we are going to pursue it,” he declared following an appearance at the opening of Portimão’s Mar Algarve Expo.
Pinto de Abreu explained that the government is working alongside the University of the Algarve and the Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (IPMA) in a bid to produce enough octopuses to make the plan worthwhile.
“We are on the right path to increase our exports,” he confirmed.
“The government is looking more and more to the sea, but entrepreneurs need to as well,” he added. They need to see the swathe of Portuguese territorial waters “as a sector of progress and economic sustainability”.
Mar Algarve Expo, being held until tomorrow (October 11) at Portimão Arena is a new initiative, bringing together at least 70 exhibitors, all of them associated with promoting the resources of the sea.
