The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has published today in the Official State Gazette a call for subsidies for the promotion and promotion of fisheries sustainability, within the framework of the Pleamar Program. This call has an endowment of 4.1 million euros, co-financed by the European and Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The Pleamar Programme will support projects that contribute to improving the management of fisheries and aquaculture that are developed in marine protected areas and to strengthen the monitoring, recovery and awareness of these areas; promoting aquaculture that protects ecosystems and makes efficient use of resources; reduce the impacts of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment and enhance the positive interactions of these activities with the environment through innovation.

Recognised scientific and technical bodies with the collaboration of representative entities of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, scientific or technical bodies of the autonomous communities, public research bodies (OPIS) and public and private universities based in Spain are eligible for this call. It is also aimed at fishing and aquaculture operators and non-governmental organizations, among other agents. The projects presented, whose maximum duration will be twelve months, mustbe carried out in more than one autonomous community or city, or be developed in the marine environment of state competence or in protected areas and regulated on a basic basis in state legislation. In addition, the projects must meet a series of requirements: they must contemplate the active participation of the agents of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in their proposal and execution, have an applied approach and transfer the results to the sector. They must also include communication and/or awareness-raising actions.

The maximum budget of the projects will vary between €50,000 and €400,000, depending on the axis in which the initiative is framed. Innovation, advice, networks, protected areas, waste and awareness are the axes that can be chosen in this call. The subsidy received may reach 75% of the total amount of the project, varying depending on the axis and the characteristics of the beneficiary projects.

Applications, whose deadline for submission is 5 May 2017, must be submitted through the website of the Biodiversity Foundation, which has set up an email address to manage queries related to this call.