£1m made available to support Welsh industry
25th January 2022
The industry in Wales is being invited to submit applications to a £1m fund, intended primarily to help mitigate the ongoing impact of Covid, and help the industry adapt to the rapidly changing market conditions for seafood products.
The funding will support investments in the small-scale coastal fleet and aquaculture, together with improvements to the marketing and processing of fishery and aquaculture products. However, any project selected and supported under the programme will have to be completed within a 12-month period starting from July this year.
The £1m derives from remaining EMFF funding, co-financed by the Welsh government and the European Commission.
The application window for the funding is now open. Guidance is available for those interesting in applying, and a project outline form should be submitted to Rural Payments Wales as soon as possible. A full application will then be issued, and will need to be completed and returned by the closing date of 25 March.
All project proposals received will be assessed once the application window has closed.
Rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths said: “I’m pleased to be able to make £1m available to support the fishing industry in what remains an incredibly challenging time.
“More than £15m in approved grant awards has already been made for projects across Wales through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and a further £1m of projects are under consideration.
“As the European Commission funding is only available until 2023, this £1m will primarily focus on providing support to help the industry mitigate the ongoing impact of Covid and adapt to the changes in the market for seafood products.”
Details of the EMFF programme and scheme guidance can be found at: bit. ly/3Aa8B9V
The long-term replacement scheme for EMFF funding for Wales is currently being developed, and is expected to be available later this year.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.
