On March 26, the European Commission validated the possibility of opening public aid to finance the renewal of fishing vessels in Overseas Territories., for a large part of the fleet.
The Commission finally recognizes the specificities of overseas fishing compared to those of continental Europe. The Réunion Region immediately welcomed this in a press release.. “Aid for boats less than twelve meters for the modernization and renewal of the fleet is finally authorized (…). It is the culmination of a long battle initiated for more than ten years during which the French State and the European authorities passed the responsibility on each other for a non-decision, underline the text. Remember that around forty Reunion boats representing “small” fishermen are concerned. You should know that, at the same time, the biggest boats benefit, them, of the tax exemption system. It is quite obvious that from the angle of preserving the resource, it is not the “small” fishermen who are endangering it while the trawlers of large dimensions and large capacities are deployed in the waters of the Indian Ocean. This injustice had to be put to an end.".
