The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights has launched a second call for financial assistance to fishermen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This scheme will be open to fishermen who have not applied for the first call for applications. All eligible fishermen have been sent an application, and are encouraged to apply between 7 February 2022 and 28 February 2022.
“As we announced in the first call of the scheme last year, € 800,000 has been allocated from national funds to assist all fishermen against a pandemic. For the first call, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture received 506 applications. This means that these fishermen have already benefited from an investment of € 688,100. Those who did not apply for the initial scheme are now being given the opportunity to apply and benefit from the second call, ”said the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights, Anton Refalo.
Eligibility is also based on the categorization of the vessel’s license (MFA & MFB) in the year 2020. Under this scheme, the grant of € 700 has been set as the minimum in case a boat is registered as MFA, and a minimum of € 350 in grant in case a boat is registered as MFB. The maximum grant is € 5,000.
Signed applications containing all the necessary documents annexed to the same application must be sent by post to the Front Office of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, as well as to the Landing Offices (Malta and Gozo), or at the Office of Security Officers in Għammieri, Marsa. Upon receipt of the applications, the Department will carry out the necessary checks to determine that the payments have been received correctly.
In case of difficulty or questions the applicants or those interested can call the office in charge of the funds of the Department on 2292 6859 or send an email on: fisheriesprojects.mafa@gov.mt.
