FAMENET Report on Marine Litter under EMFAF
Enriched EU · Found: 2026-03-11 12:40
EU report on marine litter activities funded under EMFAF national programs across member states including Baltic Sea countries.
Funding Details
- Funder
- European Commission — European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF)
- Funding Goal
- Support marine litter prevention, clean-up, recycling/recovery, and monitoring activities under the EU's common fisheries and maritime policy framework
- Funding Amount
- Total EMFAF budget: €6.108 billion (2021-2027). Marine litter operations average €102,113 (clean-up) to €166,458 (monitoring). Only €6 million allocated to marine litter so far out of ~€1 billion potentially available.
- How to Apply
- Applicants must contact the EMFAF national managing authority in their EU member state. Each country administers its share of the fund through a national programme with its own application procedures, selection criteria, and investment priorities. There is no centralized EU-level application for shared management funds. Community-led local development (CLLD) projects go through Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs). A list of national authorities is available on the EC website.
- Target Region
- EU member states (particularly active: Sweden, Denmark, Spain)
- Contact
- National EMFAF managing authorities in each EU member state (list available on EC website). General: European Commission, DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
- Last Checked
- 2026-03-11 19:15
Application Checklist
Eligibility
Project Scope
Required Documents
Constraints
Summary
The European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) is the EU's main funding instrument for fisheries, aquaculture, and maritime policy for the 2021-2027 programming period, with a total budget of €6.108 billion. Of this, €5.311 billion is distributed through national programmes managed by EU member states (shared management), while €797 million is administered directly by the European Commission. The fund supports sustainable fishing, marine biodiversity protection, aquaculture development, blue economy innovation, and coastal community resilience. This FAMENET report specifically analyzes how EMFAF national programmes fund marine litter activities. As of end-2024, only €6 million (0.48% of committed EMFAF budget) across 58 operations has been allocated to marine litter, despite an estimated €1 billion potentially available (20% of total EMFAF). Operations fall into five categories: clean-up (€3.47M, 34 operations), prevention (€1.06M, 12 operations), recycle/recover/mitigate (€1.06M, 9 operations), monitoring (€499K, 3 operations), and studies/research. The average operation size ranges from ~€102,000 for clean-up to ~€166,000 for monitoring. Key legal bases for marine litter funding include EMFAF Article 25(2)(a) for compensating fishers for passive collection of lost fishing gear and marine litter, Article 25(2)(b) for port infrastructure investments for receiving litter, and Article 30 for community-led local development (CLLD) strategies through Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs). Sweden (€2.69M, 23 operations), Denmark (€1.02M, 9 operations), and Spain (€0.98M, 14 operations) lead in committed funding. Beneficiaries include public bodies, private enterprises, NGOs, and research institutions, with NGOs and private entities particularly active in recycling/recovery operations. The report highlights that marine litter funding under EMFAF is significantly underutilized, suggesting substantial opportunities remain for eligible organizations to access this funding through their national managing authorities.
Historical Context
EMFAF is the successor to EMFF (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, 2014-2020). The 2021-2027 programming period entered into force on 14 July 2021. As of end-2024, only 58 out of 16,400+ total EMFAF operations (0.35%) addressed marine litter, totaling €6 million. The FAMENET report (2026) highlights this significant underutilization and encourages greater uptake of marine litter funding by member states.
Why it was added
EMFAF marine litter funding report covering Baltic Sea countries
Sources
- https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/document/download/9204ae9d-1cf2-4a75-8aa3-b380c6a5eac9_en?filename=2026-famenet-report-marine-litter_en.pdf
- https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/funding/emfaf_en
- https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/funding/emfaf/how-get-funding_en