Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid; and for what alternative funding they can apply.

Seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid through the provisions set out in the European Commission’s state aid rules for the fisheries sector which apply to businesses involved in the processing of fish and fisheries products, as well as to the catching sector. The Commission views this as necessary to avoid distortion of the market and to ensure consistency with the objectives of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. However, support is available to small and medium-sized seafood manufacturers via the European Fisheries Fund, and its successor, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

Any application for alternative funding would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis subject to the specific request.