Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said: "In these extraordinary times, our citizens count on our help, now more than ever. The market disruption caused by this crisis has hit European fisheries and aquaculture sectors particularly hard. Jobs, communities and food security are at stake. This is why it was important for us to act together, swiftly and effectively, and help our fisheries sector."

Part of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus, these exceptional measures include support for the temporary cessation of fishing activities due to coronavirus, financial compensations to aquaculture farmers and to processing enterprises, specific measures for the outermost regions and support to producer organisations for the storage of fishery and aquaculture products. Additional amendments to the EMFF Regulation allow for more flexible reallocation of financial resources within the operational programmes of each Member State and a simplified procedure for amending operational programmes with respect to the introduction of the new measures. Operations supported under the temporary coronavirus-related measures will be retroactively eligible as of 1 February 2020 until 31 December 2020. Therefore, Member States can already start selecting and supporting these operations.