£20.8 million funding boost for the Scottish fishing industry.
The UK Government has just 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.
In the Solway, SeaScope Fisheries Research Ltd (In partnership with Fruits of the Sea, University of Glasgow and Marine Scotland Science) has been awarded £288,972 to carry out a Solway Cockle Survey.
The Solway cockle fishery closed in 2009 due to low stock levels primarily caused by overfishing. At its height in 1991, over 5,000 tonnes a year with a first-sale value today of over £5m, were harvested. The last full Solway cockle survey was undertaken over 7 years ago in 2015, and the stock is now considered a data-deficient stock.
To improve data and inform fishery scientists and managers, the project will undertake two full stock surveys (2023 and 2024).
For more information about the project (and other fisheries projects) click here