This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding boost for fisheries industry
03/02/2003
Fifty projects across Scotland are to receive funding totalling £3.2 million to help improve and modernise the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, it was announced today.
These awards are in addition to the financial package worth up to £50 million to assist Scotland's fishing communities, which was announced on 28 January.
The financial awards - allocated from the Scottish Executive and EU FIFG programme - assist projects involved in processing and marketing, aquaculture, fishing vessel modernisation and fishing port facilities.
The awards are expected to trigger associated private sector investment of some £13.5 million.
Minister for Environment and Rural Development Ross Finnie said:
"I am pleased to announce these latest awards, particularly at this very difficult time for Scotland's fishing communities.
"These awards provide much-needed support to remote communities whose economies are heavily reliant on aquaculture and fishing. I am determined to encourage sustainability and to improve product quality at all stages of the food chain."
This is the fourth round of awards under the European Union's latest Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) which was introduced in 2000 and will run until the end of 2006. Applications for the next (fifth) round of awards under the FIFG programme should be submitted to SEERAD by 30 th March 2003.
Over the period of the FIFG programme, £55 million has been made available to Scotland (£17M for the Highlands and Islands area and £38M for the rest of Scotland). Joint Fisheries Management Groups, involving partners from the industry, local authorities and the enterprise network agreed the allocation of funds across the six measures listed below for which schemes are now in place.
- Processing and Marketing
- Aquaculture
- Fishing vessel modernisation
- Fishing port facilities
- Operations by Members of the Trade
- Innovative Measures
The Fisheries Management Groups will oversee the administration of the schemes and regularly review funding allocations in light of experience and demand.
In addition to the FIFG award, there will be a Member State back-up contribution - normally from SEERAD - of at least five per cent of eligible costs. Precise amounts cannot be given at this stage, but the minimum contribution for this round will be in the region of £170,000.
While each project is important in its own right, the following examples merit special mention:
- The future prospects for Scottish scallop fishermen have been threatened recently by a series of fishing ground closures arising from the presence of algal toxins, and food safety concerns regarding their product. The Seafish Industry Authority is to receive a FIFG grant of approximately £167,000 to commission a survey that will establish the typical portion size of scallops consumed in those European countries that represent the principal outlets for the industry. The results of the work will provide a valuable contribution towards the objective of establishing agreed limits for algal toxins in scallops that not only provide safety for the consumer but also ensure the ongoing viability of this important sector of the Scottish fishing industry.
- Recent decisions regarding the management of deepwater fisheries have left a number of modern Scottish vessels with very limited opportunities to pursue the fishery for which they were built. The Crusader Fishing Company Ltd., which operates the M/V Victory, has been successful in obtaining a FIFG grant of some £127,000 to undertake a pilot project off north west Scotland to establish whether there are opportunities to develop a sustainable deep water shrimp fishery. If successful the project offers improved opportunities for M/V Victory and other vessels in a similar position to diversify into new fisheries.
Hebridean Smokehouse Ltd is just one of the projects within the Highlands and Islands area that has benefited from Processing and Marketing Grant Assistance. Based at Locheport, North Uist, the company produces high quality peat smoked salmon and trout. The £124,792 awarded in FIFG Processing and Marketing Grant assistance will be used to help increase capacity through the construction of a larger processing building and purchase of additional smoking, slicing and packaging equipment. This will increase productivity and help maintain employment in the area.