Scottish aquaculture gets £2.5M of EU funding
Aquaculture is often known as aqua farming and refers to the farming of fish, crustaceans and plants.
Of the total funding, £1.7M from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) will go to the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre at Stirling University. The money will be used to promote environmental sustainability and bring industry and research together to provide innovative solutions to the challenges faced by the sector.
Loch Fyne Oysters, Charron, Dawnfresh Seafoods and Fassfern Mussels will also benefit from the funding, which is part of the second round of the EMFF funding, supporting 56 projects in communities across Scotland.
Funding
Ewing announced the funding while speaking at the Farmed Finfish Summit at Marine Harvest in Fort William on Friday (28 October), where he demonstrated how essential the support from the EU was. He also called on the UK government to provide clarity around future funding.
He committed the Scottish government to the formation of the industry leadership group, which would drive growth and improve partnership working between the industry and government.
Ewing said: “Aquaculture is one of our real economic success stories and the industry is on track to grow to a value of well over £2bn annually to the Scottish economy by 2020, supporting 10,000 jobs. I am committed to supporting continued growth to 2020 and beyond as part of my wider priorities to build growth in the rural economy.
“This is a great example of how essential EU funding is helping to encourage further innovation and supporting the sustainable growth of aquaculture, in turn benefiting rural communities which depend on this industry.
Clarity
“In the absence of clarity from the UK government on the longer-term impact of the EU referendum vote on EU funding, we will do all we can to champion our shared interests and provide reassurance to our aquaculture industry. We know aquaculture has a key role to play in our rural economy.
"It is a major Scottish exporter to the EU which is why we will continue to engage with the UK Treasury to get clarity on future funding and to secure Scotland’s place in the single market.”
