Government Decision No. HG251/2025 validating the Regulation on the Fund for the development of the aquaculture sector and the organization of the market for fishery and aquaculture products.

The Regulation defines the objectives of the Fund for the development of the aquaculture sector and the organization of the market for fishery and aquaculture products: strengthening the management and sustainability of natural water basins, promoting sustainable aquaculture production and processing, and improving the organization and resilience of the market for fishery and aquaculture products. It introduces key concepts such as interventions, support measures, indicators, and various standardized cost forms, and links them to a Strategic Program for the Aquaculture Sector (PSSA). The Regulation details the mechanism for using Fund resources through the PSSA, which must be prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry based on a SWOT analysis and needs assessment. The PSSA must specify objectives, types of actions, indicators, targets, financial plans, and use of financial instruments. Eligible operations include start-ups and operators of all sizes in aquaculture, subject to compliance conditions. Ineligible operations include certain vessel investments and market withdrawal measures except in exceptional events. The text sets substantive eligibility exclusions for operators involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, environmental offences, or fraud against the Fund, and provides for temporary inadmissibility and declaration requirements. It establishes a five-member Evaluation and Approval Commission, its composition, mandate, quorum and decision-making rules, and its role in assessing and approving applications. Three priority areas are defined: (1) sustainable management of inland aquatic basins, including first acquisition of vessels, energy-efficiency upgrades, data collection, research, and biodiversity and ecosystem restoration, with possible compensatory payments; (2) promotion of sustainable aquaculture production, processing and marketing, including environmental services and animal health and welfare; and (3) support for market organization and crisis measures in exceptional events, including storage compensation. Specific conditions are set for processing enterprises and types of eligible investments. The Regulation prescribes calculation methods for compensation via unit costs, lump sums and flat-rate financing, and sets maximum co-financing rates, including differentiated rates for certain interventions and beneficiaries. It establishes monitoring and reporting obligations for the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture and beneficiaries, including performance indicators, correction of non conformities, and annual performance reports to the Government. It further regulates on-site verification, monitoring periods, recovery of unduly paid support, and proportionality of recoveries. Finally, it provides transparency and publicity requirements, including publication of beneficiary lists and irregularities, eligibility of information costs, and compliance with personal data protection legislation.