FOGAIBA opens aid to compensate for accidental bycatch

The president of the Agricultural and Fisheries Guarantee Fund of the Balearic Islands (FOGAIBA) has approved the 2026 call for de minimis aid intended to compensate for the damages that the accidental capture of straw bales and decomposing tuna cause to bottom-trawling fishing activities. The resolution, identified by number 10726, is published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) no. 140, dated November 3, 2026, and bears the signature of Joan Simonet Pons dated October 26, 2026.

A new line for a problem without an identified responsible party

The resolution recognizes that in recent years there have been “relatively frequent cases” of captures of straw bales located on the seabed and tuna in a state of decomposition by trawling vessels. Despite efforts to determine their origin, it has been impossible to discover where they come from, and therefore, no one can be held responsible.

The effect on the activity is direct: the capture damages the fish already inside the gear, can break the tackle, and forces the vessel to return to port to untangle the material and repair the net, resulting in the loss of the corresponding daily wage. In the case of tuna, all materials and equipment must be cleaned and disinfected. The regulation adds an additional risk for the crews due to the great weight that accumulates on the winch when the gear is lifted and opened.

The call is framed within Commission Regulation (EU) No. 717/2014 of June 27, 2014, and Royal Decree 1139/2024 of November 11, which raises the de minimis limit to 40,000 euros given that the National Grants Database (BDNS) meets the conditions of a national central register. The regulatory bases are the Order of the Counselor of Agriculture and Fisheries of March 10, 2005, published in BOIB no. 43 of March 17, 2005.

Fifteen thousand euros and a cap of 1,500 euros per accident

• Maximum amount of the call: 15,000.00 euros, charged to the FOGAIBA budgets for the 2026 financial year, which may be extended.
• Maximum amount per accident: 1,500.00 euros.
• Limit per beneficiary: 40,000.00 euros, in accordance with point 2.bis of article three of Regulation (EU) No. 717/2014, and without exceeding this amount in any period of three fiscal years.
• Calculation: the average commercial value of the catches from the five days prior to the accident minus the value of the catches on the day of the accident, verified ex officio by the Directorate General of Fisheries.

Beneficiaries may be shipowners of vessels with a fishing license and authorizations for the bottom-trawling modality, with a home port in the Balearic Islands, registered on the third list of the Official Ship Registry and registered in the General Registry of the Fishing Fleet. These requirements must be maintained at least until the granting resolution.

Immediate notice to the Directorate General of Fisheries and deadline until January 15

The accident must be notified and graphically documented before the Directorate General of Fisheries immediately and always before the vessel’s arrival at port, so that the corresponding control can be carried out. The verification of requirements is done ex officio, unless there is express opposition from the applicant.

The application period runs from the day after the publication of the resolution in the BOIB until January 15, 2027, using the form model available on the FOGAIBA website and submission to the entry registries of the fund, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, or electronically.

The instruction corresponds to the Aid Management Area of FOGAIBA and the resolution to the vice president for fisheries, upon the proposal of the head of the OCM, State and Fisheries Aid Service. The maximum term to resolve and notify is six months from the end of the application period, with negative administrative silence. The aids are incompatible with any other public or private subsidy for the same actions.

The measure arrives for a sector facing a risk that it cannot prevent or attribute: the limited compensation per accident and per shipowner turns into a right a loss that until now was borne entirely by the crew, and establishes for the first time a homogeneous notification and calculation procedure for these incidents in Balearic waters.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), no. 140, of November 3, 2026, Section III. Other provisions and administrative acts, p. 61516 (official reference: provision 10726, doc 1231330).