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Oceans and fisheries
News announcement1 September 2020Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Coronavirus response: Romanian aquaculture farmers benefit from additional EMFF support

Following the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus, the European Commission has taken swift action to protect the fisheries and aquaculture sectors from severe shocks by introducing specific measures, including amendments to the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

Subsequently, Romania has modified its operational programme and has allocated €5 million of public support to compensate aquaculture companies for financial loss caused by the coronavirus outbreak. To ensure sufficient funds, Romania reallocated €1.8 million from other areas of the programme.

It is expected that over 160 aquaculture farms who are economically affected by the coronavirus, will benefit from the income support scheme. The farmers may use the granted compensations to cover their temporary losses. This ensures that they can continue their activities. Thus, the scheme will help mitigate shocks to the entire sector by avoiding downsizing measures such as staff reduction and suspension of activity. The compensations will be based on the average income from sales in the last three years. The minimum support will be €15 000.

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has put the EU’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors under substantial pressure. Many fishermen and -women, producers, and processors have been forced to suspend or severely reduce their activities. The closure of sales venues, markets, outlets, and distribution channels has seen a substantial drop in prices and volumes.

Details

Publication date
1 September 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries