Seafish has announced more than £700,000 of funding for innovative projects and businesses from its Industry Project Fund (IPF).
With significant partnership funding, these projects will be worth £1.5 million to industry.
The IPF, instigated in 2007 to support innovation and foster growth in all areas of the UK seafood industry, will support 15 new projects in its latest round, as well as the continuation of nine projects from previous funding rounds.
Chief Executive, Dr Paul Williams, said many of the new projects have been selected to reflect the industry’s desire to communicate positive messages about seafood to the consumer.
“Overall, the scope of funded projects is wide – and includes projects on fishermen’s safety and marine spatial planning,” says Dr Williams. “However, this year, we have focused more attention on consumer communication and projects that promote the nutritional benefits of seafood. We want the UK public to engage with seafood and see it as a healthy and easy-to-cook product.”
One of the successful projects within the ‘consumer’ theme is the ‘Fish to Food’ Outreach Project, run by Billingsgate Seafood Training School in London.
Adam Whittle, Deputy Director at the School, said: "It is fantastic news that we have been awarded this support for our work with schools promoting sustainable seafood to young people.
"We will use this money to extend the scope of our work in schools by making our training sessions more engaging, ensuring our healthy eating messages get back from school into the home and finally giving access to teachers and other schools this information electronically."
Other successful projects from this year’s tranche include: research into the nutritional content of langoustine to be used for ‘on pack’ promotion by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB); a major project on fishermen’s safety training, to be coordinated by Seafish; and a project to monitor UK fish stock performance by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO).
