Connect with us

Infra

£20.8 million funding boost for the Scottish fishing industry

Published

on

£20.8 million funding boost for the Scottish fishing industry

The UK Government today (Monday 17 July) announced the latest Scottish projects to receive investment from the £100 million UK Seafood Fund.
 
A total of £18.7 million is being awarded to 10 projects across Scotland through the Infrastructure Scheme to improve capability at ports, harbours, processing and aquaculture facilities. In addition, £2.1 million is being allocated to four Scottish projects through the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) scheme to provide vital research that will inform fisheries management. 

Over £74 million in match funding from alternative private or public contributions is supporting these projects.

Funding is also available for the catching sector across the UK to replace or modernise their engines to reduce emissions, improve reliability and enable new technologies to be tested. The scope for the Fleet Modernisation Round is being extended to include all commercial vessels.

UK Government Minister for Scotland John Lamont said: 

I’m delighted that almost £21 million UK Seafood Fund investment is being shared across 14 Scottish projects. The fund is a crucial part of our commitment to help level up coastal communities and deliver the Prime Minister’s priorities of growing the economy and creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country. 

We are supporting fishing communities across the UK so they benefit from better infrastructure, new jobs and investment in skills to ensure they have a long-term and sustainable future

In total the UK Government is today awarding £45.6 million from the UK Seafood Fund to modernise infrastructure across the sector and ensure we are using the best research for fisheries management, supporting around 1,500 jobs.

The announcement builds on the progress which the UK Government has already made to deliver a thriving fishing sector outside the EU. The UK Government successfully negotiated a significant uplift in quota shares following EU exit, valued at around £101 million in fishing opportunities to the UK fleet this year alone. Meanwhile the UK Seafood Fund is investing £100 million into the long-term future of the UK fisheries sector, helping to drive innovation and supporting job creation.  

Further information

On Monday 17 July the UK Government announced the award of funding under the second infrastructure round and the fourth and final round of the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) schemes from the £100m UK Seafood Fund.

A total £18.7 million has been awarded to 10 projects across Scotland through the Infrastructure Scheme to improve capability at ports, harbours, processing and aquaculture facilities (Annex A).

A total of £2.1 million has been awarded to 4 projects through the FISP scheme to provide vital research that will inform fisheries management (Annex B).

Annex A: UK Seafood Fund: Infrastructure Scheme- Round 2 Successful Projects

Location   Organisation   Summary   Public grant (£m)  
Fraserburgh, Scotland   Enter Foods   New seafood processing and cold store facility   0.7     
Peterhead, Scotland   Alisrose Limited   Wastewater treatment plant expansion   0.85  
Peterhead, Scotland   Northbay Pelagic LTD   Upgrade to current processing facility and new equipment to increase processing capacity by up to 35,000 tonnes a year    5  
Aberdeen, Scotland   AGD Duff & Partners Limited   Modernisation and new equipment for new processing facility   0.4  
Berwickshire, Scotland   DR Collin & Son    Improving the efficiency and capacity of primary and secondary crab processing sites    0.65  
Shetland, Scotland   Lerwick Port Authority   Reclamation of sea to create laydown area to allow construction of new cold store and increase capacity   0.5  
Ardessie, Scotland   Mowi Scotland Ltd   New state-of the-art, brood stock farm at Mowi’s Ardessie site      5  
Barcaldine,   Scotland   Scottish Sea Farms Ltd.   Post-Smolt Facility   5  
Tarbert, Scotland   Tarbert (Loch Fyne) Harbour Authority   Fish Quay Refurbishment     0.4  
Isle of Mull, Scotland   Inverlussa Shellfish Co Ltd   Mussel farm and shore-based hub upgrades with renewable energy supply   0.2  
Total      18.7

Over £74 million in match funding from alternative private or public contributions is supporting these projects.

Annex B: UK Seafood Fund: FISP- Round 4 Successful Projects

The location of projects may differ from where the applicant is based.

Location   Lead applicant   Summary   Public grant (£m)   
Edinburgh,   Scotland   Heriot Watt University   Modifications on spring toothed scallop dredging   0.8  
Edinburgh,   Scotland   MarFishEco Fisheries Consultants   Nephrops fishing gear trial    0.8  
Inverness,   Scotland   University of the Highlands and Islands   Ling collection and collation of data    0.2  
Aberdeen,   Scotland   University of Aberdeen   Effectiveness trial of Real Time Reporting in reducing bycatch for Nephrops    0.3  
TOTAL       2.1  

A total £800,000 in match funding from alternative private or public contributions is supporting these projects.

Continue Reading