The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights Anton Refalo, during a press conference, announced that this is the second consecutive year in which the government together with the Department of Agriculture. Fisheries and Aquaculture within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights will be assisting the fisheries sector through national funds.
Through this scheme, fishermen who had vessels registered in 2020 as MFA and MFB with the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture will be benefiting from up to a maximum of € 5,000 in cash back to compensate part from the losses the pandemic brought.
There are expected to be 661 eligible fishermen and fishermen in this aid scheme. In addition, this scheme is being implemented with the aim of alleviating the overweight and negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the essential commitment and work of fishermen.
Minister Anton Refalo stated that, “Therefore the government felt it had to intervene by offering help to all fishermen. Through an allocation of € 800,000 from the National Funds, this compensation scheme has been designed to provide assistance to fishermen of vessels registered as MFA and MFB. The application was sent by post to all Gozitan and Maltese fishermen. These will concern direct payment schemes, with aid based mainly on the financial losses suffered by fishermen on the sale of fish during the year 2020. “
