The Itsasoratu program has called for 2026 grants for fishing companies

The Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government has called for 2026 grants for fishing companies, so that students can carry out formative stays on fishing vessels, within the Itsasoratu program. The call was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV) number 169, on September 4, 2026, with reference 2026/3808. It is the Order of August 27, 2026, signed by Councilor Amaya Barredo Martín, and it regulates the grants attached to the de minimis regime.

The call gives continuity to the policy started in previous events, but changes the recipients and the objective: it is not a scholarship aimed at students, but rather aimed at fishing companies, so that they can take students on their vessels and provide practical training. A similar call was published in 2025 through the Order of September 2, 2025 (BOPV number 178, September 19, 2025). The grants are included in the Strategic Grant Plan 2026-2028, approved by the Order of March 4, 2026.

Objectives and beneficiaries

The objective of the call is to bring students closer to the reality of the sector, facilitate the “sea days” that students need to complete their training, promote youth employment, and ensure the generational renewal of the fleet. Beneficiaries may be the shipowners of a fishing vessel with a base port in the Basque Autonomous Community, or companies with a work headquarters in the BAC.

• The vessel must be in the third list of the Register of Ships and Company Navigators.
• To be registered in the General Register of the Fishing Fleet and to have carried out fishing activity in the previous year.
• To possess the fishing license and necessary permits.

Students and stays

Stays can be carried out by first-year students from the centers of Pasaia, Bermeo, and Ondarroa, in several formative cycles: higher-level Técnico Superior degrees (maintenance of ship machinery, maritime transport, and deep-sea fishing) and intermediate-level ones (maintenance and control of machinery, coastal navigation, and fishing). Those taking the course to obtain the Multipurpose Coastal Skipper title may also participate.

Stays have the duration of one tide, approximately between 20 and 30 days, and must be carried out in the period between the end of the school year and the beginning of the next. Each company may take a maximum of two students per stay.

Grant amounts

The budget for 2026 is 98,700 euros, from the General Budgets of the BAC. According to the de minimis regime, the maximum grant a single company can receive in three fiscal years is 40,000 euros, according to the regulations of Regulation (EU) 717/2014 and Royal Decree 1139/2024. The subsidizable expenses are as follows:

• A payment of 2,000 euros per student.
• Registration and coverage for Social Security.
• Tutoring and monitoring: 3,600 euros as a single payment, and an additional 2,000 euros if the student is female.
• Work equipment and clothing: 250 euros per student.

Applications and deadlines

Applications must be submitted within one month, starting from the day following the publication of the order in the BOPV, and must be made electronically through the electronic headquarters of the Public Administration of the Basque Country. Natural persons may also submit them on paper at the offices of the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao, and Donostia).

This call is of particular importance for the fishing sector, as it promotes the entry of young people and generational renewal in the face of the aging of the fleet. The Itsasoratu program combines practical training and employment, and furthermore, by providing greater support to women, it also promotes the feminization of the sector.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, number 169, September 4, 2026, Other Provisions section, pp. 1-21 (official reference: 2026/3808).