Funds from both the European Union and the Croatian state budget could see the lives of fishermen made easier.
As Morski writes on the 10th of February, 2018, this is an opportunity for the world of Croatian fishing that would be a foolish one to miss.
With those very words, Mato Oberan recommended the open tender of the Ministry of Agriculture for the upgrade of existing fishing ports, which gives the port authorities, local authorities and other concessionaires of fisheries infrastructure 41 million euro, available to them from from EU funds and the state budget.
Opportunity
“Almost nothing has been invested in our fishing ports for a long time, on one hand due to a lack of money and, on the other hand, the lack of understanding of the local self-government, which saw a greater developmental and economic opportunity in nautical tourism,” stated Oberan for Slobodna Dalmacija. He agrees with the conclusion that in this case particularly, the European Union has better recognised Croatia’s interests than Croatia itself.
”I’m convinced that the amount of aid provided in Croatia will be fully or almost fully utilised,” concluded Oberan.
As Slobodna Dalmacija reports from the Ministry of Agriculture, several fishermen’s concessionaires can apply for a bid for modernisation support.
From deals with the fishermen, as well as with the relevant state and county institutions, ten locations that would meet all the needs of a fishing port with their spatial position and concentration of fishermen have been established.
This is primarily related to the fishermen’s ports in Dubrovnik (Sustjepan), Velja Luka, Brižine, Komiža, Zadar (Gaženica), Lamjani (Kali), Krk, Novalja, and in Rogoznica, and Pula, for which the state has previously provided funds for the necessary documentation – they say in the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the Ministry’s information, the ports of Lamjana and Krk now have the complete documentation for the bid, while the others are still in the process of drafting and obtaining all of the necessary documentation. The maximum amount of support a fishing port can get is five million euro (or 37.5 million kuna).
”It’s very important that, under the provisions of the European Union for these grants, the constructed infrastructure must be used exclusively for fisheries for at least five years, and then we believe that fishermen will have access to this infrastructure on the basis of the acquired conditions,” noted Mato Oberan.
