Young Fisher Scheme

Who is Eligible

This scheme is open to individuals, or legal entities* wholly owned by one or more individuals:

• Who are each under 40 years of age
• Who each has worked for at least 5 years as a fisher and is fully qualified to operate the vessel being purchased
• Who is tax resident in Ireland, and has the right to live in Ireland

*A legal entity is a company or partnership that has a bank account in its name

What is funded

Eligible expenditure:

Acquiring ownership, in full or in part (at least 33%), of your first fishing vessel. The eligible expenditure covers the vessel cost and licence/capacity costs, proportionate to the applicant’s vessel shareholding.

• The vessel must:
  • Have a length overall (LOA) of less than 24 metres
  • Be equipped for sea fishing
  • Have been registered in the Union* fleet register for at least five years (three in the case of SSCF) and less than thirty calendar years preceding the year of submission of the application for support
  • Belong to a DCF fleet segment that is identified as balanced in the most recent Irish Fleet Annual Report submitted to the European Commission (at present all segments are reported as in balance).
• On payment, the vessel must be registered in the Irish Register of Fishing Boats
• There is a grant aid cap of €250,000
• Only one application can be made for any one vessel

Ineligible expenditure:

• Only vessels registered and purchased from within the EU are eligible for grant aid. Vessels imported from any third countries (including the UK) are not eligible for grant aid under the scheme.
• Gear cost
• Where the transfer of ownership occurs within the same family up to the second degree

Amounts Granted

Scheme aid intensity will be 40% of the cost of vessel acquisition, proportionate to the applicant’s shareholding in the vessel.

The calculation of the grant aid will involve 3 steps:

1. Apply the 40% grant aid rate to the total eligible expenditure
2. Multiply this amount by the percentage of the vessel that the applicant will own.
3. If this amount exceeds the grant aid cap, apply the cap. Otherwise, the amount calculated in step 2 will be the amount offered to the applicant.

Example 1

The applicant is a 29 year old fisher who intends to purchase a vessel. The applicant’s shareholding in the vessel will be 100%. The eligible expenditure (vessel cost + capacity cost) is €200,000

1. A grant of 40% on €200,000 is €80,000
2. The applicant’s shareholding is 100% so the potential grant amount would be €80,000
3. This does not exceed the grant aid cap, so the amount offered would be €80,000

Example 2

The applicant is a 35 year old fisher who intends to purchase a vessel with 2 others who are over 40 years of age. The applicant’s shareholding in the vessel will be 50%. The eligible expenditure (vessel cost + capacity cost) is €2,500,000

1. A grant of 40% on €2,500,000 is €1,000,000
2. The applicant’s shareholding is 50% so the potential grant amount would be €500,000
3. This exceeds the cap, so the cap would be applied and the amount offered would be €250,000

Example 3

The applicant is a legal entity (wholly owned by two fishers under 40 years of age) who intends to purchase a vessel. The applicant’s shareholding in the vessel will be 33%. The eligible expenditure (vessel cost + capacity cost) is €1,000,000

1. A grant of 40% on €1,000,000 is €400,000
2. The applicant’s shareholding is 33% so the potential grant amount would be €132,000
3. This does not exceed the cap, so the amount offered would be €132,000