On Monday March 25, in Bruges (Belgium), Armands Krauze, the Minister for Agricutlture participated in an informal meeting of the EU Ministers for Fishery, where Ministers of Member States discussed the necessary EU-level solutions to problems not only in sector of fishery and aquaculture but all along the production and supply chain, including processing of and trade in fishery and aquaculture products,
Minister for Agriculture, Armands Krauze: “The sector of fishery and aquaculture is a considerable element of a sustainable mangement of food safety, employment, sea resources and ecosystems. This sector has an exceptional socio-economic significance for coastal and rural territories therefore, it must be secured that fishing fleet and aquaculture infrastructure would be able to ensure a sustainable food production, increasing resilience of the sector and taking care that the implemented policy and measures are effective and support the sector in the current changeable and difficult circumstances”.
For Latvia, a very essential aspect is a considerable reduction in administrative burden in fishery and aquaculture sector to be able to balance more successfully the attainable targets and requirements of the EU Common Fishery Policy. Besides, moving towards the environment and climate objectives all the interests must be in equilibrum and they need an adequate financial support. Just as newly adopted fishing control conditions must be even more improved, placing more emphasis on socioeconomic sustainability of the sector.
Whereas, while planning the next financial programming period 2028 – 2035 of the European Maritime, Fishery and Aquaculture Fund, conditions for eligibility to aid from the European Maritime, Fishery and Aquaculture Fund must be revised thus solving several financial issues: to considerably reduce a negative impact of the very old fishing fleet on the environment and climate changes, to cancel excessive restrictions on fishing fleet modernization, also ensuring aid for acquisition of new fishing vessels as well as to guarantee proper compensations for all the environmental and climate protection measures, implemented in the interest of society, etc.