Scottish Executive announces £6m funding package for fish industry – Fishupdate.com

Scottish Executive announces £6m funding package for fish industry Published:  09 March, 2004

Fisheries and aquaculture projects across Scotland will receive funding totalling 6.18 million pounds to improve and modernise their businesses.

Allan Wilson, the Deputy Fisheries Minister in Scotland today annou-nced the latest funding to 58 projects through the Scottish Executive and EU FIFG (Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance) grants.

The awards are expected to trigger associated investment of some 10 million pounds and create more than 96 full-time and part-time new jobs across the industry.

Allan Wilson said: “The Scottish Executive is committed to the development of a viable and sustainable fishing industry in Scotland – an important sector of the

Scottish economy.

“The awards provide much-needed support and amply illustrate our continuing determination to put the industry on a sustainable footing and to improve product quality at all stages of the food chain.”

He continued: “Most of the aid is for projects located in fish dependent areas or remote communities whose economies are heavily reliant on aquaculture and fishing. Employment is a vital consideration in such communities and was again an

important factor in the assessment of applications received.”

This is the sixth 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 (seventh) round of awards under the FIFG programme should be submitted to SEERAD by 31st March 2004.