The Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) scheme – which is part of the £100m UK Seafood Fund – brings together industry and researchers to deliver pioneering projects which promote the sustainable management of the UK’s fisheries and help equip the fishing industry for the future.

So far over £4 million has been made available by the UK government to fund projects under the scheme. From this week, a new funding round for the FISP is opening, with increased awards of up to £1 million for two-year projects and new eligible funding areas, allowing for a wider variety of more ambitious projects to receive support. The UK Seafood Fund will also be extended from 2024 until 31 March 2025 to help longer-term projects to succeed by giving them more time to use the investment.

Read More

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has launched a Call for Evidence on the impacts of fishing activity in 13 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

It follows the announcement of Byelaws to prohibit damaging fishing activity in four MPAs last month, including Dogger Bank and the Canyons, which will come into force on 13 June 2022.

The MMO are now seeking views on the impacts of bottom towed gear (BTG) fishing in 13 more MPAs which contain some of the most sensitive features at risk from this activity, including rock, and rocky and biogenic reef.

The evidence put forward at this stage will be used to inform MMO’s assessments ahead of formal consultation on management of the sites.

Read More

The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme has been relaunched this week to help support the long-term sustainability, resilience, and prosperity of the seafood sector across England.

Following the initial success of the scheme, which first opened last year, at least £6 million in funding has been secured every year until April 2025, providing long term investment to the sector.

The scheme will continue to fund projects that boost business resilience and increase sustainability across our world-class fishing industry, further strengthening support for food producers across the catching, processing and aquaculture sectors.

You can find out more about the scheme, including how to apply, here

Read More

The first round of the UK Seafood Fund Infrastructure Scheme is now open for applications until 12pm noon 23 May 2022.

£65m in funding is available for projects to benefit coastal communities and strengthen businesses. The support to infrastructure is critical for the seafood industry which supports so many of our coastal communities.

Read More

Great to see the first hull out the Macduff shed for 2022.

Euroclydon GY 77 is built to National Maritime SME Working Group Champions MACDUFF SHIPYARDS LIMITED design. Macduff Ship Design have completed the Naval Architecture, structural design and steel kitting production.

This follows last months delivery of the new Macduff Shipyard built fishing vessel, ‘FRUITFUL VINE, BF 240’, to the owner’s NICOL FISHING LIMITED. This new build replaces their previous fishing vessel of the same name, which was built by the yard in 2010 and is intended to fish around the coast of Scotland, occasionally pair trawling alongside the families other fishing vessel, the ‘STEADFAST HOPE BF 340’.

Read More

Fishing communities across the UK will be given the opportunity to benefit from better infrastructure, strengthened supply chains, new jobs and an investment in skills thanks to a £75 m boost for the sector announced by UK government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The investment will strengthen the sector’s ability to land more fish in the UK and take them to market faster. This will be achieved by improving the capacity and efficiency of our harbours and processing facilities while boosting the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry and supporting jobs, increasing opportunities for coastal communities and levelling up across the country.

A £65 million infrastructure scheme will be made available for projects such as modernising ports and harbours alongside increasing capacity and efficiency at processing and aquaculture facilities.

A competition will be run to identify the best projects, prioritising those that reduce carbon emissions, helping increase the sustainability of the sector and contributing towards the UK’s commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Read More

The regeneration of Newhaven has been given a massive boost with the announcement of £12.68 m from the UK government Levelling Up Fund.

Lewes District Council successfully bid for the money which will help re-establish the town as a maritime centre of excellence and ensure Newhaven’s fishing industry receives the immediate support it needs.

The successful award was largely based on a £25m bid designed and authored by National Maritime to help establish Newhaven and the Southeast of England as a leading centre in the UK for the processing and marketing of seafood and aquaculture businesses.

This award follows National Maritime announcement in June of this year to establish a Maritime and Sustainable Technology hub in the town, following another successful bid again co-authored by National Maritime and Newhaven Enterprise Zone to secure a further £1.3m from the ‘Getting Building Fund’ from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, on behalf of the council.

Blue Space at the Marine Workshops is the redevelopment of a stunning heritage site, set to reinvigorate the area’s industry and bring huge opportunities for jobs, training, and investment into the area.

This latest award ‘Capturing the Value of the Catch’ will:

+Provide two new fish landing stages to accommodate 16 small vessels from the Newhaven fishing fleet

+Build a new Centre of Excellence for seafood processing in the town including an auction room and marketplace

+Create a new restaurant and community destination on the promenade area by West Beach to retain spending in Newhaven for longer and stimulate a local market for fish.

Read More

The UK government has recently announced its first investment from the £100 million UK Seafood Fund to boost innovation in the fishing industry.

Fishing businesses across the UK will now have access to £24 million of investment to develop technology, trial new gear and support world-class research to improve the productivity and long-term sustainability of the industry.

Find out about the funding available through the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) scheme and how to give feedback before applications open.

Read More

Great to see the past years design development coming to fruition for National Maritime SME Working Group champions Macduff Ship Design Ltd..

The new Venture IV for Whitehills skipper Mark Lovie has been launched at the Finomar Shipyard at Szczecin in Poland and will be fitted out at MACDUFF SHIPYARDS LIMITED.

Venture IV is due for delivery from Macduff Shipyards in the summer of 2022. The 34.50 metre LOA, 10.50 metre breadth Venture IV will have a 2000-box capacity fishroom and has been designed by Macduff Shipyards and Macduff Ship Design and replaces Venture III which was also built at Macduff in 2016.

Venture IV has been designed with a greater length than its predecessor to provide better seakeeping, crew comfort and to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

Venture IV has a set of Yanmar engines, with a 6EY26W main engine and a pair of 6NY16LW generator sets. The main engine drives a 3300mm Helseth propeller via a Mekanord 650HS gearbox with 5.44:1 reduction. The package of hydraulic deck equipment is from MacGregor (GBR) Ltd, including three 29-tonne trawl winches, three 19-tonnes split sweepline winches and three 12-tonne bagging winches. There are also twin 10-tonne codend winches and a pair of 13-tonne gilsons, three gear handling winches and a three-tonne fishroom winch, as well as a 35t/m deck crane.

Read More

A small grants fund of £150,000 is available to support the fishing communities affected by the Wave Hub. This fund was set up to benefit the fishing communities in Hayle and St Ives. Also to some extent Newlyn, where fishing vessels can show that they fish in the waters around the Wave Hub.