EU grants €7.4m to Maltese fisheries

The Maltese fisheries sector will receive its largest ever injection of funds over the next seven years, after the EU yesterday finalised its legal process to vote allocations under the new European Fisheries Fund (EFF) programme.

Malta will be granted over €7.4 million up to 2013 to invest in the sector.

The money will mainly go towards helping the fishing fleet to adapt to its capacity, providing support to various industry branches such as aquaculture, processing and marketing, and providing aid for operations in the industry's collective interest.

It is up to Malta how the funds are spent and the island has to draw up a national operations programme that will have to be approved by Brussels.

The European Commission said it anticipated it would approve most of the operational programmes by the Commission in the course of the second half of the year.

Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said the €3.8 billion in EU funds made available should give a big boost to the fisheries sector all over the EU.

"All the necessary legislation is now in place to allow funding to start. I encourage member states to ensure their national strategies and operational programmes are forwarded to the Commission as soon as possible so that there are no delays in the allocation of the EFF aid to the industries or fishing communities," he said.