Guidance

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF): Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs)

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and Community-Led Local Development (CLLD).

• From: Marine Management Organisation
• Published: 18 January 2016
• Last updated: 16 May 2016 — See all updates

The application deadline for Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) has now closed

Background

Fisheries areas across the EU are facing significant challenges. The continuous decline in income and employment in the fishing sector has underlined the need for innovative responses that are both sustainable and inclusive.

Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) is a tool that enables local fisheries communities to address these challenges at a grass-roots level using the knowledge of local stakeholders to tackle local issues.

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in England will fund up to 6 Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) to deliver fisheries focused CLLD in England. This will be done through a Local Development Strategy (LDS) designed by each of the FLAGs. Key focuses of FLAGs under EMFF will be supporting fishing communities to adapt to the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and supporting sustainable economic growth.

The budget available is €6.4m which represents over 9% of the total EMFF Budget available in England. To focus the benefits of this approach FLAG LDS will be delivered over a maximum of 3 years.

The process for selecting FLAGs in England opened on 1 February 2016, Stage 1 is now complete and Stage 2 to select Local Development Strategies is underway.

Stage 2 – Selection of Local Development Strategies will look at key areas including:

1. The extent which the local area will be effected by the reformed CFP and how an LDS will mitigate these issues
2. How sustainable economic growth can be developed and enhanced at the local level
3. Ways in which the EMFF funding can be used to leverage other investment into the area
4. The capacity and capability of the group to deliver the LDS

Selected Groups will be invited to form a FLAG and will be given an allocation of funding based on their strategy. Selected FLAGs are expected to launch in late 2016 or early 2017.

Published 18 January 2016
Last updated 16 May 2016 + show all updates

1. 16 May 2016

   Text removed

2. 7 March 2016

   Flag event reference text removed

3. 18 February 2016

   FLAG workshop agenda added

4. 9 February 2016

   FLAG event added to top of the page

5. 1 February 2016

   All text changed

6. 18 January 2016

   First published.