UK Government announces £20.8 million for Scottish fishing industry

The money comes from the £100 million UK Seafood Fund, set up by the UK Government to support the industry.

The UK Government will today announce a further £20.8 million for the Scottish fishing industry.

It will see a total of £18.7m awarded to ten projects across Scotland through the Infrastructure Scheme to improve capability at ports, harbours, processing and aquaculture facilities.

This will include a new seafood processing and cold store facility in Fraserburgh, an expansion of a wastewater treatment plant in Peterhead, a new brood stock farm in Ardessie, and a new post-smolt facility in Barcaldine.

The UK Government has confirmed a further £20.8 million in funding for the Scottish fishing industry.

In Edinburgh, there will be funding for Heriot-Watt University. The University of the Highlands and Islands and University of Aberdeen have also been awarded grants.

In addition, £2.1m is being allocated to four Scottish projects through the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) scheme to provide vital research that will inform fisheries management.

The money comes from the £100m UK Seafood Fund, set up by the UK Government to support the long-term future and sustainability of the UK fisheries and seafood sector.

The total of £18.7m has been invested in projects across other areas including Aberdeen, Berwickshire, Shetland, Tarbet and the Isle of Mull.

UK Government Minister for Scotland John Lamont said: "I'm delighted that almost £21m [in] 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 £45.6m from the UK Seafood Fund to modernise infrastructure across the sector to boost research for fisheries management, supporting around 1,500 jobs.

The fund aims to reform and modernise infrastructure to boost and bring economic growth to coastal communities, and over £74m 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.

The industry has been deeply critical of the UK Government over Brexit, but ministers insist they can deliver a “thriving fishing sector” outside the EU, including a significant uplift in quota shares, valued at around £101m in fishing opportunities to the UK fleet this year alone.

SNP Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Patricia Gibson MP said:“Brexit has cost Scotland’s economy billions of pounds, and hit our fishing and seafood sector hard, which is why people across the industry have said they feel ‘sold out’ and ‘betrayed’ by the Tory government.“While any compensation from. Westminster for the damage that their hard Brexit has inflicted on Scotland is welcome, this funding is a drop in the ocean compared to the huge damage that Westminster's hard Brexit has inflicted on Scotland's fishing industry and economy - and the EU funding that the UK government has taken away from Scotland.“Our fishing industry is struggling to get by in the face of unnecessary trade barriers and staffing shortages caused by Brexit, and the Westminster-made cost of living crisis.“Fishing is devolved, and the UK government should not be taking money that belongs in Scotland then handing back a fraction and expecting our fishing community to be grateful. Instead, a fair share of the £100 million fund should be handed over to the Scottish Parliament now so it can be distributed in line with the priorities of our marine sector.”