Small-scale fishers revealed as least supported recipients of EU funds

The briefing reveals that small-scale coastal fishing (SSCF), despite representing 75% of the EU fleet, received only 20% of European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) spending between 2014 and 2021. It highlights a lack of transparent reporting by Member States on SSCF action plans and notes that higher public aid intensity has not sufficiently increased investments in small-scale projects. The document argues that funding disproportionately favors larger vessels, particularly in the Mediterranean, and recommends that the European Commission mandate more granular data collection and that Member States provide local administrative support to help small-scale fishers access funds.

• Between 2014 and 2021, small-scale coastal fishing (SSCF) received only 20% of the EMFF funds spent on EU fishing fleets, while 80% of the funding went to large-scale fishing fleets.
• Member States' implementation reports for France, Italy, and Spain lack detailed information on small-scale action plans, often providing only general statements of support without specifying investments or access processes. France specifically lacks a tool in its national selection criteria to prioritize SSCF vessel applications.
• Increased public aid intensity—reducing the private contribution required from fishers—has not been sufficient to increase spending on SSCF projects. In Brittany, a special call for engine replacements resulted in 58% of aid recipients being SSCF vessels in 2019, but this violated EMFF legal conditions regarding the prevention of increased fishing capacity.
• Funding is disproportionately allocated away from the Mediterranean, where 80% of vessels are SSCFs. Only 31% of EMFF fisheries investment funds were dedicated to the Mediterranean. In 2019, Spain allocated approximately €20 million for fishing vessel operations but only €3,090,996 for SSCF vessels; similarly, Italy reported that only 124 of 2,425 supported vessels were SSCFs.

APA

Tacconi, F. (2023). Small-scale fishers revealed as least supported recipients of EU funds. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/p3jdr4iv/small-scale-fishers-least-supported-recipients-of-eu-funds.pdf

Chicago

Tacconi, Flaminia. Small-scale fishers revealed as least supported recipients of EU funds. ClientEarth, 2023. https://www.clientearth.org/media/p3jdr4iv/small-scale-fishers-least-supported-recipients-of-eu-funds.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tacconi |first1=Flaminia |title=Small-scale fishers revealed as least supported recipients of EU funds |publisher=ClientEarth |date=March 2023 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/p3jdr4iv/small-scale-fishers-least-supported-recipients-of-eu-funds.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tacconi2023smallscale, author = {Tacconi, Flaminia}, title = {{Small-scale fishers revealed as least supported recipients of EU funds}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/p3jdr4iv/small-scale-fishers-least-supported-recipients-of-eu-funds.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }