A new £260,000 lobster hatchery is being built in County Down, Northern Ireland, to help boost the local fishing industry and the local crustacean population.
The new facility at Kilkeel will also act as an educational resource and through a partnership with Queen’s University in Belfast, conduct research activities.
Funding for the new facility has been provided by a grant from the UK government’s Coast Communities Fund which project leader, the Kilkeel Development Association, said could contribute to the safeguarding of over 140 jobs in the inshore fisheries sector.
The Coastal Communities Fund was a two year project set up at the end of 2011 to set about funding the regeneration of UK seaside towns and villages which have suffered decades of economic decline.
It’s funded by the government from income from the Crown Estate’s marine assets. Funding is available in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Fund is managed in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘BIG Fund’.
The next (and last) round of funding is due to open soon.
Among the successful bidders for 2012 grants were the National Lobster Hatchery, Padstow, Cornwall. It received £150,500, which provided four new jobs and 15 training and volunteering opportunities for local people.
