During a press conference, the ‘Investments on board fishing vessels’ scheme, co-financed by European funds and being carried out in collaboration with European Services Malta, was launched. This scheme was launched by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, Anton Refalo and the Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Animal Rights, Alicia Bugeja Said.
Through this scheme, fishermen can benefit from financial assistance to modernize and improve security measures on their vessels.
Minister Anton Refalo explained, “Through this initiative, the European Union is continuing to ensure that its citizens have access to quality seafood at a reasonable price. To this end, the fishing industry needs to be competitive so that fishermen have an appropriate income and enjoy an adequate standard of living, in light of the concept of the blue economy. We are therefore committed to continuing our work to launch such schemes.”
Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said said, “Fishing not only contributes to our economy but is also an integral part of our country’s maritime culture and identity. Through this scheme, we are giving fishermen the opportunity to invest in new technologies and improve their infrastructure so that they can operate more safely and efficiently.” She encouraged all fishermen to apply for this investment opportunity and stressed the importance of these funds being used so that the fishing sector in Malta remains competitive and viable.
Rodrick Zerafa, the CEO of European Services in Malta, spoke about the agency as an important tool so that fishermen, like farmers, businesses, voluntary organisations and local councils, have free assistance in applying for project financing with European funds. “We are helping those interested in applying for European funds to design the projects they have in mind according to the criteria of different schemes and eventually submit a competitive application.”
Director General for European Funds, Eng. Anthony Camilleri explained that, “This is the first call, aimed directly at fishermen for investments on board fishing vessels. Unlike previous funding programmes, this call will be open for a longer period, and will remain open until September 2026. In addition, for this funding programme, people can also benefit from assistance for consultancy services. This time, the Managing Authority is working directly with European Services in Malta so that they can assist fishermen in filling out the project applications they wish to submit”.
As has been done in other schemes, information meetings will be organised by the SEM agency so that fishermen can better understand the criteria of this call for investments on board fishing vessels. These will be held in the coming weeks in Marsaxlokk, St. Paul’s Bay and Gozo.
