The Ivo Sanader cabinet intends to invest 45 million euros so that the fleet can be 'enriched' with some 50 ships for the catch of small and big oily fish in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, Sea and Development Minister Bozidar Kalmeta said,
The government will give grants to cover 30 percent of the costs shipbuilding in Croatian shipyards. Ten percent should be covered by the fisherman who orders a new ship, while the remaining 60 percent will be ensured through loans given by the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR).
Kalmeta said that for the first time in 20 years the government was proposing a model for the enhancement of the fishing fleet.
Croatia has now about 3,700 vessels in the fishing fleet, most of which are outdated ships that cannot fish in external waters.
Croatian fishermen annually catch 14-24 thousand small oily fish, which is only eight percent of the estimated biomass, which Kalmeta said was unacceptably low.
The Sanader cabinet today confirmed the status of the Science and Higher Education Agency, which will begin operating on Monday.