LITHUANIA
The Vilkauda FLAG supports inland ďŹ shing and pond aquaculture
Obligation to create jobs slows implementation of strategy The EU’s 2014-2020 programming period saw the use of community-led local development (CLLD) as a tool for the implementation of a bottom-up strategy designed by the different stakeholders, industry, associations, local administrations, civil society organisations, NGOs, and others, in the local community.
T
hese different interests come together in a Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG). The idea is to focus on community needs and opportunities and on solutions devised at the local level. In the case of communities with a fisheries and aquaculture component implementing these solutions is supported by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The objective of these strategies is to strengthen the local economy, create sustainable jobs, and reinforce social cohesion by creating networks and strengthening the interactions between residents in the local area.
FLAGs play a useful role in community development The support from the EMFF that is available to FLAGs is intended, among other objectives, for the sustainable development of fisheries, to stop and reverse the decline of coastal and inland fishing and aquaculture communities by creating greater value for fish products, to diversify fishermen’s activities, to encourage innovation, foster regional and international cooperation, defend the environment, and protect and promote the area’s cultural heritage. Lithuania, with 12 FLAGs, has more than either Estonia (8)
From left, Orinta Dicmone, assistant manager, Jurate Ciuknaite, manager, of the Vilkauda FLAG, and Vytautas Andriuskevicius, the director of the National Association of Aquaculture and Fish Product Producers, which is also a FLAG member
or Latvia (6), but the average budget per FLAG at EUR1.2m is considerably less than in Estonia (EUR3.5m) or Latvia (EUR2.5m). To an extent, the budgets also reflect the number of projects that have been selected for support, which in Estonia is 519, in Latvia 107, while in Lithuania it is only 18. The Vilkauda FLAG in Lithuania is located inland in the country’s south east and includes the Moletai, Vilnius, and Salcininkai
districts and the Elektrenai municipality. The FLAG represents fish farming and inland fishing and includes among its members the National Association of Aquaculture and Fish Product Producers. Membership is divided into three categories, local municipalities, businesses, and NGOs, representatives of all of which are needed before a FLAG can be recognised officially. The companies are typically involved in aquaculture or
commercial inland fishing and are looking to the FLAG for support, for example, to modernise fish farms or invest in equipment. One of the goals of the FLAG is to create sustainable employment in the community, and there are obligations to achieve these goals. Currently, the FLAG is obliged to create 14 full time positions. Another priority that stands to benefit fish farmers is to invest in the farm either to modernise it or to establish processing facilities,
EUROFISH Magazine 4 / 2019
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