Five types of projects
Decarbonation and energy savings
The EU fishing fleet remains highly exposed to fuel price shocks. In 2022, vessels paid on average close to three times the normal fuel price at the peak of the crisis, pushing the sector into its lowest economic performance in at least two decades. For small-scale vessels, fuel is often one of the few cost items they can actually act on.
BlueMove supports targeted improvements to boats and engines to reduce fuel expenses and lower the fleet’s carbon footprint: propeller replacement, solar panels, and autopilot systems.
Selectivity
Although static gear used in small-scale fisheries is less harmful than towed gear, there is still room for improvement. Even common métiers like trammel nets can generate discards accounting for 25% or more of the total captured biomass, including non-target and vulnerable species.
BlueMove supports the adoption of lower-impact fishing equipment to reduce unwanted catch while protecting the value of the target catch: more selective gear with increased mesh size, traps, and modified hook shapes.
Depredation
Depredation happens when dolphins and other marine predators remove catch directly from fishing gear. It has become a growing concern for fishers over recent decades, causing severe damage to gear and significant product loss, and directly lowering incomes through reduced and damaged catches. Fishers bear this cost individually, making it a livelihood issue as much as an environmental one.
BlueMove supports the adoption of deterrent and mitigation devices adapted to local conditions to reduce catch and gear losses, while limiting harmful interactions with protected species.
Value chain
Small-scale fishers are widely recognised as the backbone of coastal communities, and it is essential that they remain competitive within the broader fishing value chain. Strengthening their position is key to sustainable fisheries.
BlueMove supports the purchase of refrigerated vehicles enabling more direct sales, insulated containers and improved access to ice to help fishers capture more value from their catch and reduce dependence on intermediaries.
Income diversification
Fishing incomes are often unstable, and the profession is struggling to attract young generations. Small-scale fisheries face declining generational renewal and unattractive working conditions, putting family-run activities at risk of disappearing altogether. Supporting fishers through periods of transition or rest is essential to keep the sector viable.
BlueMove would like to work with small-scale fishers to co-design real alternative options, such as the temporary or long-term diversification of activities, including fishing for invasive species, sustainable fishing tourism and blue businesses in general.
Designed to fit EMFAF
Funding aligned with our mission
BlueMove helps fishers respond to EMFAF calls that can support a lasting transition towards sustainable fishing.
We prioritise opportunities that finance long-term improvements rather than emergency measures or compensation for losses, such as fuel-price support or payments linked to interactions with marine mammals.
Combining complementary investments
The most effective projects often combine several improvements. Depending on the funding available, BlueMove encourages packages bringing together energy savings, vessel and crew safety, lower-impact fishing gear and new sources of income.
This approach allows fishers to strengthen both the environmental and economic resilience of their activity.
Meeting EMFAF requirements
Fishers must meet a number of legal, administrative and financial conditions to qualify for EMFAF support, including holding the required documents, keeping tax payments up to date and complying with fisheries regulations.
BlueMove helps fishers anticipate these requirements, although unpredictable calls and lengthy decision-making processes can still make project planning difficult.
Fishers we supported
I completed four projects that I submitted to the 2014-2020 EMFF cycle. […] I've been able to capture larger specimens with a higher market value thanks to these more selective traps. Additionally, I've decreased the quantity of unwanted bycatches. The benefits of my new traps on scampi populations have been verified by scientists with whom I have collaborated.
Šime Barić
Small-scale fisher in Zadar, Croatia
who benefited from the support
of WWF Adria and BlueMove
I have been working in fishing for about 39 years and here, we basically fish for octopus. We work with cage traps. I had never accessed to MAR2030 support. The support [...] made the difference in the applications because, bureaucratically, it is very difficult.
Small-scale fisher in Portugal
who benefited from the support
of WWF Portugal and BlueMove
I have been working in fishing for almost 6 years. I never took the initiative to apply, and because of the work involved, doing it alone, I never applied. The work you did with us, if you hadn't come, I would never have applied for that support. I wouldn't have had the initiative to apply for the support alone.
Small-scale fisher in Portugal
who benefited from the support
of WWF Portugal and BlueMove
I have successfully implemented two projects that I submitted to the EMFF […]. With the grant, I also installed solar cells and I have significantly improved the energy efficiency of the vessel, reduced fuel consumption, and therefore operating costs. To improve safety, I modernized the complete cabin […] and I installed an anti-slip surface, as well as railings on the roof of the cabin and the deck.
Antonio Đivoje
Small-scale fisher in Lastovo, Croatia
who benefited from the support
of WWF Adria and BlueMove
I work with gillnets and trammel nets. With gillnets, I fish for red mullet, seabreams, picarels, and grunts. With the trammel net, it's mostly soles, cuttlefish, and rays. [...] My engine will be replaced by a 100-horsepower engine, which will give more power to the boat, a newer engine, less fuel consumption, so to speak. With the support they gave, the way they approached us, it was all much easier than if we had to do it ourselves, even though we were doing the work. But with them, it was much easier. The connection they have with MAR2030, with the DGRM, made everything much easier and faster.
Small-scale fisher in Portugal
who benefited from the support
of WWF Portugal and BlueMove
I have been working in fishing for 35 years. [EMFAF] is a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of paper here and there, and in the end, people get frustrated and they don't do it, they don't waste time with it. If it weren't for [this project], honestly, very few applications would have been made here.
Small-scale fisher in Portugal
who benefited from the support
of WWF Portugal and BlueMove
