The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin-Ionuț BARBU, received on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at the MADR headquarters, a delegation of the National Association of Fishery Producers ROMFISH and the Romanian Fish Patronage.

The main topics raised by the representatives of the delegation that met with Minister Florin-Ionuț BARBU concerned:

the European funding in the contracts carried out through POPAM, the situation of the non-concessional lands on which fish facilities are located under the administration of the National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, the water tariffs and the authorizations/accessories for aquaculture, bureaucracy, ichthyophage birds, etc.

With regard to the issues concerning the projects financed by European funds, the Minister ordered the verifications by the Control Body regarding the way in which the applicant's guidelines for some measures from the Operational Program for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, related to the 2014 financial year, were developed and applied -2020, in relation to European legislation. The conclusions of the Control Body's report will be the basis for applying the legal measures in question.

During the discussion, Minister Florin Barbu specified that he will propose to the European Commission the granting of some forms of support intended for the fishing and aquaculture sector to compensate for the effects produced by the war in Ukraine, in accordance with the legislation in force.

Another aspect discussed during the meeting referred to the problems faced by the fishing sector for the flounder owned by the Romanian National Water Administration.

In this regard, the minister proposed the creation of a working group between representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which will be formalized through a joint ministerial order and based on which meetings will take place whenever the situation requires , to identify appropriate solutions.

At the same time, the minister emphasized that one of his priority objectives is to attract all European funds intended for the fishing sector through the Aquaculture and Fishing Program (PAP) 2021-2027, which has a total financial allocation of 232 million euros.

At the end of the meeting, the MADR official assured those present of his openness for an effective dialogue for the benefit of this sector.