The problems they face at work and in their daily lives were examined yesterday by the professional fishermen of Paphos, at an extraordinary General Meeting they held. Their main problem, as mentioned by the president of the Paphos Coastal Fisheries Association, Leonidas Leonidou, is the placement by the Port Authority with the agreement of the Municipality, of a controlled entrance gate with an electrical mechanism to the square area of the Castle, where they go to begin their work.
"This," he said, "causes us problems since we cannot carry out our work, for which we must go and park our cars next to the boats that are docked in this area. We are now also having problems with issues such as the transport of fuel for our vessels, or the transport of networks and other co-operations for our work."
The controlled entrance gate has been installed in order to deal with the problem created by young people mainly, entering with vehicles in the square area of the Castle and acting in a dangerous way for visitors.
At the meeting it was decided to request a meeting with the Port Authority and the Municipality of Paphos to discuss the matter, and a memorandum has been sent to the relevant ministries. If the situation does not improve immediately, the president of professional fishermen warned, then vigorous measures will be taken.
The extraordinary Board of Directors of the Paphos Coastal Fisheries Association also dealt with other problems of concern to the sector, such as changes in contributions to the Social Insurance Fund, the reduction of fish stocks and illegal fishing.