A financial aid package to improve the Spanish fishing and aquaculture sectors has been made available for distribution to qualified applicants, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food recently announced. The Spanish aid programme, funded by money from the EU Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), has an initial budget of 20 million euros. Successful applicants from the fishing and aquaculture sectors will receive financing of up to 50% of their investment projects to a maximum of EUR 5 million each, with the possibility of future expansion. The ministry hopes the funds will improve the competitiveness of Spain’s industry, already one of Europe’s largest, in many ways. Modernisation through enhanced digitisation is a key goal, because of the potential for cost reduction. Costs can be reduced also by projects targeting energy efficiency and efficient water use. Other projects that will attract support include improvements in traceability, product packaging, and working conditions.
Sustainability throughout the sector, both environmental and economic, is an overall goal of the ministry’s assistance programme, in line with the priorities for all EU member states, while another objective is rural and coastal economic development.