Local fishing set to reel in 185 mln euros
Greek fishing will net about -185 million (in 2004 prices) from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) for the 2007-2013 period, according to a statement by the European Commission in Brussels yesterday. The total amount the EFF has penciled in for supporting European fishing comes to -3.8 billion and will be allocated to all sectors of the industry (sea, lake and river fishing, aquaculture, producers’ cooperatives, processing and trading domains, and fishing areas). Member states must draft their operational programs to receive EFF funding, according to certain rules the Commission has imposed. Then the Commission will examine whether the programs are in line with the Common Fisheries Policy and decide on their approval in the second half of 2007. There are five main priorities for funding under the EFF: helping the fleet to adapt fishing capacity and effort to available fish resources; providing support to various industry branches (aquaculture, processing, marketing); provision of aid for operations to support the collective interest of the sector; promoting the sustainable development of fisheries-dependent areas, and providing technical assistance to member states to facilitate the delivery of aid. The countries benefiting most are Spain (-1 billion), Poland (-651 million), Italy (-218 million) and Romania (-202 million).
