Fishing businesses and marine organisations in north and north-east coastal communities are to benefit from the latest round of Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) awards.
A total of 60 Scotland-wide projects contributing to innovative and sustainable practices, as well as national net-zero ambitions will receive grants ranging from £7,000 to about £1.6 million.
I’m confident this round of funding will play an important role in continuing to help our marine and fisheries businesses to develop and move to the next level.”
Mairi Gougeon, rural affairs secretary.
More than £13m has been awarded in total, just days after UK Government funding for the seafood sector sparked a row over who should decide – Holyrood or Westminster – how public cash should be spent to support the industry.
The Scottish Government is responsible for Marine and fisheries policy-making and implementation north of the border.
More cash for Denholm and Aquascot
Peterhead firm Denholm Seafoods and Alness-based Aquascot are having a good week on the funding front.
Last Friday it was announced they would each get a share of a £20m payout in the first round of the UK Seafood Fund Infrastructure Scheme. Denholm was awarded £2.9m and Aquascot £3.7m.
The MFS awards announced today gave both firms £1.2m.
Denholm is spending a total of nearly £12m on a new cold store and solar panels, allowing it to increase its storage and freezing capacity, and reduce its carbon footprint.
Aquascot – believed to be the largest employee-owned business in Scotland – is investing heavily in a new salmon processing facility next to its existing salmon and trout plant.
Among other MFS awards, Skye firm Organic Sea Harvest (OSH) is getting £1.1million towards its £3.2m investment in new containment facilities at Lochinver, aimed at reducing the number of wasted sea journeys due to bad weather.
OSH’s investment is also expected to improve animal welfare and continuity of supply.
Thistle Seafoods, based at Boddam, near Peterhead, is getting nearly £900,000 towards its purchase of new equipment.
It follows Thistle’s acquisition of a fish processing plant in South Lanarkshire earlier this year.
MFS’s latest grants also include nearly £219,000 for Kimo International, a voluntary scheme aiming to remove 150 tons of litter from the sea in 2022-23, and about £370,000 towards an investment in solar panels at Lunar Freezing and Cold Storage Company at Peterhead.
New fishing gear
Some of the grants will pay for new gear on fishing vessels, while Peterhead Port is getting about £716,000 towards a new ice plant.
Industry body Seafood Scotland has been awarded two grants totalling nearly £2m, including £1.625m to promote and support Scottish seafood export markets.
Announcing the awards during a visit to a shellfish processing facility in Lanarkshire earlier today, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Marine Fund Scotland has enabled some really exciting projects in the past and I’m confident this round of funding will play an important role in continuing to help our marine and fisheries businesses to develop and move to the next level.”
SSMG, a supplier of mussels and oysters farmed off the west coast and in Shetland, will use its cash for an upgrade of its refrigeration system.
Stephen Cameron, the group’s managing director, said: “This funding is crucial in supporting the continual investment we require given the impacts of Brexit, Covid and inflationary pressures on our co-operative business.”
Many more awards in latest funding round
MFS was launched following the UK’s exit from the EU and replaces funding for the fishing and seafood sector previously available through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. A total of £14 million is allocated to the fund for 2022-23.
The latest beneficiaries also include Moray Firth Coastal Partnership, East Grampian Coastal Partnership, Landcatch Natural Selection, EcoCascade CIC (Community Interest Company), Barratlantic, Salar Pursuits, the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG), Orkney Fisheries Association, Fraserburgh Freezing and Cold Storage, Highland Fish Products, Seafood Ecosse, Whitelink, International Fish Canners (Scotland), Sound of Harris Shellfish, Nolan Seafoods, Loch Fyne Seafarms, Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners, Opportunity North East, Seafish, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, and Scottish Association for Marine Science.
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