Shoreham’s fishing industry is to receive a financial boost following the approval of funding worth £26,000.
Shoreham Port has secured the grant from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF), a European Union (EU) and Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) scheme, which will be used to fund the next phase in the redevelopment of the small fishing vessel marina at Nicholson’s Wharf.
The cash injection will allow the Port to build a secure pot and net storage area, develop car parking for 13 vehicles, install a pontoon on which to conduct repairs, and erect three security lighting columns, powered by renewable energy.
The £26,000 is the second wave of funding to be secured by Shoreham Port. In 2007, £30,000 was awarded to Shoreham Port by the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance Fund (FIFG), which was used to redevelop Nicholson’s Wharf to its current state and benefit the under 12 metre fishing fleet.
Both grant awards were 50 per cent match funding grants, meaning Shoreham Port had to commit £30,000 of its own money in 2007 and £26,000 in 2009 to receive EU and MFA support.
“We’re aiming to focus Nicholson’s Marina on Shoreham’s under 12 metre fishing fleet that is having quite a tough time at present,” says Captain Colin Crookshank, Harbour Master. “We want to give commercially registered fishermen a secure place to moor as some of them are currently in mud moorings. We also appreciate that at present it’s difficult to conduct repairs, so the new pontoon should be very useful.”
Development work will commence in the autumn and is expected to take up to 12 months to complete.
