Wales’ fishing community is being invited to submit applications to a £1m fund to help mitigate the ongoing impact Covid.

The funding will support investments in the small scale coastal fleet and aquaculture, together with improvements to the marketing and processing of fishery and aquaculture products.

However, any project selected and supported under the programme will have to be completed within a 12 month period starting from July this year.

European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) application window opens today.

Guidance is available for those interesting in applying and a project outline form should be submitted to Rural Payments Wales as soon as possible. A full application will then be issued and will need to be completed and returned by the closing date of March 25.

All project proposals received will be assessed on the information provided in the application and will only be considered once the application window has closed.

Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths said: “I’m pleased to be able to make £1 million available to support the fishing industry in what remains an incredibly challenging time.

“More than £15million in approved grant awards has already been made for projects across Wales through the European Maritime Fisheries Fund, and a further £1million of projects are under consideration.

“As the European Commission funding is only available until 2023, this £1m will primarily focus on providing support to help the industry mitigate the ongoing impact of Covid and adapt to the changes in the market for seafood products.

“I encourage all with an interest to submit a project outline form to Rural Payments Wales as soon as possible, before completing a full application by March 25.”

For any additional help and support, applicants should contact the RPW customer contact centre on 0300 062 5004.

The long term EMFF replacement scheme is currently being developed and is expected to be available later this year.