‘We ask to be recognised’: small fishers claim €12bn EU fund favours big players | Fishing industry

eEarly warm September morning in the south ItalyGiovanni Nicandro sets out from the port of Taranto in his small boat. Mustering his courage, a mussel farmer checks on his businesses for the year – only to find them all dead, a sight that nearly moves him to tears.

“We have many problems,” he says. “The problems start as soon as we open our eyes in the morning.” Total loss – Not only for Nicandro but also for the other 400 mussel farmers in Taranto, after a combination of pollution and rising sea temperatures destroyed their crop.

In Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain on the Atlantic Ocean, oyster pickers like Rebeca Martinez Romero, who work on foot, are also feeling the heat. Martinez was unable to work for 10 months after unusually high water temperatures and heavy rains It killed about 95% of snails and 75% of oysters In December 2023.

Heat waves, which can be fatal This phenomenon has become common for sensitive bivalves and is expected to triple by 2040, threatening long-standing traditions of small-scale aquaculture in southern Europe.

“Oyster picking is a really cool job. I don’t want it to end, but we don’t see a lot of efforts being done to support us,” Martinez says.

However, there is money in the pot. The European Union has allocated more than €12 billion (£10 billion) to member states through… European Marine, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), which runs from 2021 to 2027, and its predecessor, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), from 2014 to 2020. The funds aim to support sustainable fisheries, strengthen coastal communities and protect marine biodiversity.

However, The Guardian has discovered that only a small portion of the money has reached small producers like Nicandro and Martinez because, they claim, the system for applying for the money is set up in such a way that it is difficult for them to obtain it. Understand and access.

From 2014 to 2021 only 20% of the EMFF funds It supported small-scale fishing while the lion’s share went to large fleets, according to environmental law charity ClientEarth. “Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen that [EU member states] For the benefit of large-scale industry; “They have done nothing to facilitate access for small-scale fishermen,” says Flaminia Taccone, a lawyer with the environmental organization Bloom.

Spain is the largest recipient of EMFAF funds Obtaining 1.12 billion eurosof which Galicia had the highest share of any region, approximately 32%during the previous iteration of the fund. Meanwhile, Italy received 518 million euros, approx €90 million of EMFF funds have been allocated to the Puglia regionHome of Taranto.

But despite a clear mandate to improve the resilience of small-scale fishermen, Galician and Italian producers interviewed by the Guardian reported significant difficulty accessing EMFF or EMFAF funds.

“There is a clear interest in changing the fishing model in Galicia, the trend towards exploitation by private companies… and the lack of adequate social measures to protect people practicing traditional fishing,” says Sandra Amezaga, spokeswoman for Molleres Salgadas, a Galician association for women in the fisheries sector. “

The region’s robust fishing industry has received millions in EMFAF funds to expand processing and production. Conservas Cerqueira, one of the largest producers of canned seafood in the region, has been awarded €8.4 million – the largest single sum awarded in Spain – to build New factoryAccording to data published by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture.

Another Galician company in the fishing sector, Hermanos Fernández Ibáñez Concinatarios de Pesca, with annual revenues of more than 107 million eurossecured €3.8 million to build a new processing plant and cold storage unit.

Even the Marine and Fisheries Department of the Galician Regional Government, Conselleria do MarIt secured more than €5.4 million to attend international conferences to promote local seafood in 2024 and this year, including in Cape Verde, Singapore and Boston.

While attending conferences falls within one of EMFF’s goals of marketing “fisheries and aquaculture products,” Amezaga believes the government should prioritize ensuring there is a product to promote in the first place. The Galician regional government did not respond to a request for comment.

In Italy, some beneficiaries received up to 10,000 euros for engine upgrade And up to 20,000 euros to purchase new boats. While the former is permitted in special cases, the latter is considered ineligible, according to EU regulations. The Italian Ministry of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment.

The shellfish producers the Guardian spoke to who could access funding for purposes such as upgrading boats and machinery were part of larger groups, such as influential mussel production organizations which are very powerful in Galicia.

By contrast, independent shellfish pickers and mussel farmers contacted by The Guardian in Galicia and Taranto described trying to apply but finding the process “too complicated” and “unclear”. The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries did not respond to a request for comment.

Low Impact Fishermen’s Organization Europe He also emphasized that financing is generally more accessible for larger entities. A spokesperson for the organization said: “Bodies recognized and favored by national governments tend to siphon off funds… as small-scale fishers may be a marginalized minority.”

Lauren Provost, who leads Fair Competition and Public Support at ClientEarth, says:[Funding opportunities] They should be designed to suit the needs of small-scale fishers who lack initial capital and technical expertise.

The European Commission’s response was that responsibility for the fair distribution of funds lies with individual governments. “We constantly call on Member States to provide tailored support [to small-scale fishers]Simplifying application procedures and reducing administrative requirements.

Ten years ago, there were about 900 oyster pickers in the Isla d’Arosa region of Galicia; Today, only 180 remain. One of them, Inmaculada Rodriguez, 55, is calling on the regional government to fund a study to understand how the climate crisis and other environmental factors, such as pollution, are affecting oyster populations.

“They need to identify the problem, find out what is happening to the oceans and shellfish, and why so many of them are dying,” she says.

Meanwhile, the effects of the climate emergency are already devastating the livelihoods of mussel farmers in Taranto, like Adriano Lippo. “We are living in a state of disaster, and we demand recognition of that,” he says.

“We already endure the indignity of barely scraping together a few coins to put a small meal on the table for our children.”

Reporting of this story was supported by Press Fund Europe