I established the Seafood Sector Task Force in March 2021 to examine the impacts of Brexit/EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on our fishing sector and coastal communities. The Task Force report of October 2021 made 16 recommendations.
To date, under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund (BAR), I have announced 11 schemes with a total budget allocation of €271.3 million, as set out below. Four new schemes - Brexit Pelagic Fisheries Support Scheme, Brexit Fish Processor Transition Scheme, Brexit Specific Scallop Fleet Transition Support Scheme and Brexit Fisheries Cooperative Transition Scheme 2023 - have been submitted to the European Commission for State Aid approval.
• Temporary Tie-Up 2021 Scheme
• Inshore Fisheries Business Model Adjustment Scheme 2022 and 2023
• Temporary Tie-Up 2022 Scheme
• Brexit Co-operative Transition Scheme
• Brexit Voluntary Decommissioning Scheme
• Brexit Adjustment Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme
• Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme
• Seafood Capital Processing Support Scheme
• Inshore Marketing Scheme
• Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme
• Off Register Capacity Buy Out Scheme
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund provides for both capital and current expenditure-type projects.
The Brexit Aquaculture Growth Scheme, the Brexit Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme, and the Brexit Processing Capital Support Scheme fall within capital expenditure.