The Report of the Seafood Task Force – Navigating Change (October 2021) - recommended 16 support schemes at an estimated cost of €423 million, collectively designed to address the impacts of Brexit and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement on our seafood sector and coastal communities.
Of all of the recommendations, the voluntary permanent cessation scheme is certainty the most complex. The Task Force recommended a voluntary permanent cessation scheme for the whitefish polyvalent and beam trawl fleet segments with the objective of removing 8,000 gross tonnes and 21,000 kilowatts of fleet capacity, equivalent to 60 vessels approximately.
The Task Force recommended that special provision be made for tax treatment of the decommissioning scheme payments, similar to the decommissioning scheme that operated in 2008 and that complementary measures for buy-out of off-register fleet capacity be instituted in order to lessen the risk of fishers re-entering the fleet with new vessels.
The recommended special tax treatment has been enacted through the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022. Aid schemes along the lines recommended by the Seafood Task Force have been notified to the European Commission for State Aid approval and I anticipate a decision shortly.
Commission State Aid guidelines for decommissioning schemes funded under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve specify that aid may only be provided for vessels registered as active.
While these EU guidelines do not explicitly refer to the code of practice, in order to be registered as active a vessel must be in possession of a sea fishing boat licence.
