To promote the sustainable development of coastal fisheries and facilitate the implementation of investment projects, the support intensity for investments by coastal fishers is planned to be increased from the current 90% to 100%. Coastal fishers will also be able to receive advance payments for project implementation.
The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared amendments to the procedures for granting support under the measures “Modernisation of the Fishing Fleet” and “First Acquisition of a Fishing Vessel”. The amendments provide for an increase in the support intensity for eligible investment projects and the purchase of selective fishing gear from 90% to 100%. Increased support will make it easier for coastal fishers to invest in improving occupational safety and health, energy efficiency and other improvements related to coastal fisheries.
An important new provision will be the possibility for coastal fishing enterprises to receive advance payments, which have not been available to them until now. Before implementing the first stage of a project, a support applicant will be able to apply to the Rural Support Service (RSS) for an advance payment of 30% of the public funding. During project implementation, an advance payment may be requested up to three times, with the advance payment for the next stage being made after the previous stage has been completed. This will be particularly important for small coastal fishing enterprises, for which it would otherwise be difficult to finance the full cost of a project from their own resources before receiving support.
The administration of support will also be simplified. Among other things, support applicants will no longer be assessed against the criteria for an undertaking in difficulty, as the RSS already assesses applicants’ financial eligibility in accordance with the principles of sound financial management. Consequently, the project selection criteria will also be removed from the regulations, as they are approved by the Monitoring Committee for the Programme for the Development of Fisheries 2021–2027 and are publicly available to applicants before a call for project applications is launched. This will make it possible to adjust the selection criteria more quickly to the specific project call, where necessary, without amending the Cabinet regulations and delaying the launch of the call for applications. The procedure for beneficiaries to provide information to the RSS will also be clarified to make the requirements for applicants clearer.
Coastal fisheries are of particular importance in Latvia. They are an integral part of the economic activity and way of life that have developed in coastal areas over centuries, helping to preserve fishing traditions, local knowledge and the identity of coastal communities.
For traditional fishing to survive and continue to develop along the Latvian coast, fishers need to invest in safer, more efficient and more sustainable operations. State and EU support therefore plays an important role, particularly by reducing the financial burden on small coastal fishing enterprises and promoting investments that will enable this profession to continue for future generations.
The changes to the support conditions will enter into force once the Government approves the amendments prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture to Cabinet Regulation No. 238 of 9 May 2023, “Procedures for Granting State and European Union Support under the Measures ‘Modernisation of the Fishing Fleet’ and ‘First Acquisition of a Fishing Vessel’.” The draft amendments have been submitted for public consultation until 6 October.
