News item | 01-07-2022 | 16:21
Minister Staghouwer (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) is fully committed to adapting the fishing fleet to become smaller, more diverse and more sustainable. The cabinet is allocating a total of €444 million for, among other things, remediation and innovations to support the necessary transition. He informed the House of Representatives about this.
Fishing is historically firmly rooted in Dutch culture. The sector has been under pressure in recent years: the space for fishing is shrinking due to Brexit, an increase in wind farms and more protected natural areas. And recently, fuel costs are also rising. In order to achieve profitable sustainable fishing, a new course must be set. There will be a restructuring scheme for entrepreneurs who want to stop. Entrepreneurs who want to become more sustainable receive help. Minister Staghouwer wants to discuss the plans with fishermen, administrative partners, chain parties and banks in the coming year.
Minister Staghouwer: “The sea has provided us with food for centuries, and we must keep it that way. At the same time, a sustainable fishing sector is crucial. That is why we must take major steps in the coming period: cleaner engines and fishing techniques with less impact on nature. A smaller sector, but one that is better prepared for the future and with which a good living can be earned”.
Measures and resources
The cabinet is making a total of €444 million available over the coming years for the transition to a smaller and more sustainable fleet:
- €199 million will be made available from the Climate Fund. The fishing sector is losing space due to the arrival of additional offshore wind farms. In addition, sustainability is necessary. It is spent on supporting innovations, fleet renewal and the shared use of wind farms. The amount is based on expected loss of income due to these developments.
- A total of €200 million is available from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) (of which €155 million for remediation, €33 million for the shutdown scheme and €12 million for the liquidity scheme). The restructuring scheme is intended for owners of fishing vessels who can demonstrate that they experience the consequences of Brexit in the form of loss of quota and is subject to approval by the European Commission.
- In the North Sea Agreement, € 45 million has already been made available for innovations for sustainable fishing.
bridging
At the request of the House of Representatives, the cabinet has decided to develop a bridging arrangement for cutters pending the remediation arrangement. “The cutter fishermen in particular should give this some relief pending clarity. After all, a European reorganization scheme is in the making, but still has to be approved by the European Commission. I consider cold remediation undesirable; an early opening of this regulation is of great importance to provide clarity to part of the sector,” said Minister Staghouwer. This means that the opening of the restructuring scheme – after the green light from the European Commission – may come before the opening of the bridging scheme.
Fisheries Innovation Network
Minister Staghouwer wants fishermen who want to continue, to be able to get started with confidence. In the Fisheries Innovation Network (VIN), ambassadors from the fisheries sector, knowledge institutions, NGOs and the government have recently started working together on proposals on how minimal fuel emissions can be achieved, which fishing techniques with less seabed disturbance look like and how to deal with wind farms at sea. . It should give fishermen more insight into where opportunities lie and how they can capitalize on them in order to earn a better living. Anyone who is willing to contribute ideas about innovation can apply.
Entrepreneurs with concrete innovative proposals – and there are – can make use of the subsidy module Innovation performance contracts for sustainable fisheries (IPC Vis) from mid-July, which will be opened in anticipation of proposals from the VIN. For the time being, € 1.1 million is available.
Entrepreneurial Help
In order to better support entrepreneurs in making choices, the ‘Entrepreneurial Aid for Fisheries’ is being set up at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). Entrepreneurs can already find information about subsidy modules or licensing obligations here. The Entrepreneurial Help will be further expanded in the near future.