The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries has defended the necessity to increase funds at the level of POSEI and an oceanic vision for the Outermost Regions. Nuno Maciel was speaking at the POSEI Forum – Outermost Regions, where he called for positive discrimination concerning the outermost regions, taking into account their specificities.
In his speech, the minister highlighted that Madeira has been successful with the implementation of POSEI, as evidenced by an assessment carried out in 2023 and 2024 by the European Commission. “POSEI plays a role in the maintenance of agriculture, in spatial planning, in the maintenance of employment, prevention of land abandonment, development of agribusiness,” confirmed Nuno Maciel, highlighting that this support mechanism has remained the same since 2007.
Therefore, it calls for a “legislative revision,” which makes POSEI Agriculture “an instrument of the European Union even more effective and consequent for the development of its Outermost Regions.”
In this sense, Nuno Maciel argues that fisheries should enjoy an autonomous POSEI, replacing the Compensation Plan of Extra costs, which allocates within the EMFAF – European Affairs Fund Seafarers, Fisheries and Aquaculture.
“The principles face similar challenges, and purposes as well,” said Nuno Maciel, where the regime would be to compensate for the additional costs generated by the remoteness, taking into account the specific characteristics of the fisheries and the challenges facing operators in the sector.
The secretary also pointed out that the fishing fleets of the ORs are mainly made up of boats using non-predatory fishing techniques, creating sustainability within fish populations. However, Madeiran fishermen require an updated fishing fleet.
In the European Pact of Oceans, which sets out a Commission policy guideline for the 2024 – 2029 mandate, one of its objectives is to boost blue economies, including fisheries in the European Union, boosting their competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability. How can the ORs contribute to this objective if they have been struggling for decades with the impossibility of renewing obsolete, fragile, insecure, and small fishing fleets? States Nuno Maciel.
Concluding, he said:
“Fishing fleets in the Autonomous Region of Madeira have not renewed any fishing vessels above 12 m since 2009. The fleet is in decline, fishermen are at risk of accidents as there are no safety measures on board, and onboard conditions are well below European standards.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
