Fishers will get a fuel subsidy for their fishing boats, to help them keep their operations going and to prevent the price of fish from increasing, in an effort to mitigate the rising prices of fuel as a result of the Ukraine war, the government announced on Friday.

Some 390 Maltese and Gozitan full-time fishers will be able to submit diesel receipts to the government, after which they will receive a reimbursement amounting to the difference in fuel prices as they stood in February.

Fisheries Minister Anton Refalo and Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said said the scheme will issue €700,000 from the temporary crisis framework fund over a span of a year.

Refalo said that if the crisis persists, as expected, the government stands ready to renew the scheme for another year.

Refalo and Said launched the scheme in a news conference at the heart of Marsaxlokk fishing village on Friday morning, in front of a small crowd of around two dozen fishers.

The subsidy will be available for MFA-registered fishers, meaning full-time fishers who are registered with the department of fisheries and aquaculture.

"Many fishermen have told us their industry is struggling. Expenses are increasing and catches aren't. They frequently return to land with more or less the same amount of fish, and sometimes they catch less," Said said.

"This scheme will help them cope with their economic challenges and prevent the price of fish from skyrocketing."

Refalo said that after helping farmers with subsidies on animal feed and pork rearing in the past weeks, it was only natural that the ministry now helped the fishers as well.

"We strongly believe in the importance of the fishing industry, so much so that we have dedicated an entire parliamentary secretariat to help it thrive," he said.

"This scheme aims to give a boost to the fishing industry and hopefully helps to re-establish it as a pillar of our economy."