Aquaculture: rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance

The European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution drafted by Hugues MARTIN (EPP-ED, F) on laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector. The resolution was subject to a few amendments which include the inclusion of certain provisions: - the level of funding should be maintained for those sectors and aquaculture projects which, on the basis of reliable data, have shown moderate expansion and an additional margin for growth; - in order to combat the threat of toxic algae, research in the area ought to be continued so as to enhance knowledge of the phenomenon and provide better protection against it; - in the event that a recovery plan is adopted by the Council or where emergency measures are adopted by the Commission or by one or more Member States, the maximum amounts of aid shall be increased by 20%. Furthermore, the requirement that the vessel on which the crew members were employed must have permanently stopped its activities shall not apply; - the Member States may grant financial compensation to shellfish farmers where the accumulation of toxins due to the growth of toxic algae makes it necessary, for the protection of human health, to suspend harvesting for more than 15 consecutive days at times when selling is intensive and provided that the undertakings in the area in question are genuinely being harmed and there is an objectively assessed loss of production, taking account of both the economic cycle of the undertaking and the productive cycle. The granting of compensation may cover no more than six months of suspension of harvesting over the entire period from the entry in force of this Regulation to the end of 2006; - increasing production by launching new undertakings devoted to species where the market is not close to saturation. Production may not under any circumstances exceed the likely evolution in demand; - establishment of farms in the open sea.�