Governance

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly FLAG has developed a Credit Union scheme designed to assist those who cannot access grant funding for their projects without initial support.

A response to low awareness and understanding of fisheries sees a concerted effort to strengthen educational work on the fishing industry along the North Sea coast of Lower Saxony, using different locations for an enhanced learning experience.

The Vidourle Camargue FLAG has collaborated with local stakeholders on a pilot scheme for collecting and recycling marine litter. The mix of plastic waste collected by the local fishermen are recycled all together thanks to an innovative industrial process.

Cuan Beo was set up by community members living and working near Galway bay, who were cognisant of a general decline in the quality of the famous shellfish producing waters in the Bay.

To promote the local shellfish activity and its products, a FLAG redevelops an area overlooking the bay where its cockle pickers work and installs a shallow outdoor pool for kids, heated with excess hot water from the nearby leisure centre.

The FLAG territory is in the south-east planning region of Bulgaria. The region has a strong fisheries tradition, though fisheries jobs only account for approximately 1% of the area’s total employment. However, many local fishers also engage in other occupations and activities such as tourism and services.

The FLAG territory includes 45km of the Black Sea coast in Varna Province, equating to approximately 13% of the Bulgarian Black Sea coastline. The leading industries in the area are tourism and agriculture. Fisheries in the region are small-scale and important in the local population – roughly 5% of the economically active population are engaged in fisheries.

The FLAG territory has two geographically distinct areas, the coastal region to the east and the Dobrudzha plateau to the west. Fishing in the coastal areas, on the Black Sea, is traditional activity and important to the livelihood of many local communities. Fisheries are predominantly small-scale, accounting for approximately 90% of the sectors total employment.

FLAG cooperation in Finland’s EMFF programme is considered to be a way of bringing new ideas and innovations to the country in order to address some specific challenges. In particular, cooperation is sought to increase the profitability of small-scale coastal fisheries and make the sector attractive as a career for young people, as well as combatting the issues posed by seals and cormorants in fishing communities. However, cooperation is not limited and other ideas and networking can be developed among the FLAGs.

A coastal fisherman in Western Estonia has redeveloped his fish shop, allowing fresh fish to be processed locally for the first time, while also creating jobs.