“Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture” Programme
The Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Operational Programme 2021-2027 constitutes a long-term programme that was drawn up on the basis of the Article 22 of the EU Regulation 2021/1060 (Common Provisions Regulation – CPR) and it analyses the development strategy for resources utilisation that have been distributed to Cyprus through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) for the period 2021-2027 (EU Regulation 2021/1139 for the EMFAF).
The total budget of EMFAF 2021-2027 amounts to €54.7M, 70% of this to be funded by the European Union (EMFAF), and 30% to be funded by the Republic of Cyprus as a national contribution.
The Programme is implemented through 4 EU Priorities and their corresponding Special Objectives, as well as the necessary Technical Assistance, as follows:
Priority 1
Promotion of the sustainable fishery and the recovery and conservation of aquatic biological resources
Priority 2
Promotion of sustainable aquaculture activities and processing and trading of fishery products and aquaculture, while contributing to the EU food security
Priority 3
Encouraging a sustainable blue economy in coastal, island and inland areas and promoting the development of fishing and aquaculture communities
Priority 4
Enhancement of the international governance of oceans and assurance of safe, protected and clean seas and oceans that are subject to the sustainable governance
Technical Assistance
The Programme:
Aims to the sustainable development in the areas of fishery and aquaculture, preservation of marine environment and enhancement of the development and employment in the coastal communities
Promotes the achievement of the goals of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP) with main goal to ensure that the fishery and aquaculture activities are environmentally sustainable and they are managed in such a way to induce economic, social and labour benefits
Captures the development priorities of Cyprus and it is harmonized with new priorities and especially the two EU Policy Objectives (PO2 and PO5) for the period 2021-2027.
The project funding in the area of fishery is predicted through the EMFAF, by focusing on the support of the small coastal fishery, in the area of the aquaculture, as well as the development of the coastal regions with the initiative of local communities. Also, measures for the control of the fishery activities and the data collection have been applied, whereas measures which deal with maritime environment have been given a great importance. The implementation of the individual actions takes always into consideration the increasing demand for economy restructure/recovery, and form of new and sustainable jobs, as well as the obligations which comply to the Community Acquis.
It is stated that the actions of the Programme include combinations of investments by the wider public sector, but also Grant Schemes that address the fishermen/owners of fishing vessels, as well as the bodies of private sector, such as enterprises that deal with the aquaculture, processing and trading of fishery products.