The Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, announced that the government will bring forward for this month the payment of defense insurance to fishermen in areas affected by the oil spill on the coast of the Northeast. The benefit would start to be paid in November and, according to the minister, will be advanced to fishing colonies that can prove the impact of the oil spill.

The minister stated that the government will monitor the situation and, if necessary, may extend the payment of insurance next year. "It is an anticipation and then we will have to monitor it because this is not 'general released'. Wherever there is a problem, the government will enter into this anticipation", said Tereza Cristina after a meeting with senators from the Northeast, who asked for the release of the appeal .

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The benefit guarantees the artisanal fisherman a minimum wage per month during the period of prohibition of the fishing activity - the so-called closed-off. In order for payment to be made in advance, state governments will need to inform the Ministry of Agriculture of the list of affected communities.

The folder, then, in data crossing with the Ministry of the Environment, will ask the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) for the advance payment "immediately", according to the minister. The head of Agriculture stated that it is not possible, at the moment, to know the economic impact of the oil spill on the beaches of the Northeast, nor the cost of anticipating defense insurance in government accounts.

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