Aquaculture projects win share of £14m Marine Fund Scotland
Salmon ova producer, smolt producer, equipment supplier, and processor all benefit
Companies and organisations linked to fish and shellfish farming have benefited from some of the £14 million awarded in the 2024-25 round of the Scottish Government’s Marine Fund Scotland.
The biggest grant of almost £1.7m has gone to meet some of the financial needs of marketing body Seafood Scotland, which has also received a separate grant of £150,000 for its costs in co-hosting the Responsible Seafood Summit 2024 at St Andrews later this month. It is the first time the event, run by the Global Seafood Alliance, has been staged in Scotland.
The Scottish Government regularly funds Seafood Scotland through the Marine Fund, but this is the first year in which it has revealed what the organisation receeived.
Net station
Next on the list for big pay-outs is Vonin Scotland Limited, the Scottish subsidiary of Faroese salmon farming supplier Vonin, which has been awarded almost £1.1m towards the £7.24m cost of the second phase of a new net station. Last year, Vonin was granted more than £955,000 towards the first phase of the facility next to salmon farmer Mowi’s feed plant at Kyleakin, Skye.
Smolt supplier Landcatch Natural Selection Ltd (Hendrix Genetics) has been granted £661,000 towards the £4.4m cost of expanding its site at Ormsary, Argyll and Bute, and Tiny Fish Ltd – managed by Landcatch boss Jarl van den Berg and PatoGen regional sales manager Teresa Garzon – has received half the £237,000 cost of primary processing equipment for small salmon.
Tiny Fish is a collaborative effort with all the freshwater salmon hatcheries in Scotland and Ace Aquatec, which makes an electronic device for humane in-water euthanising of smolts graded out before transfer to sea. Using electricity instead of an overdose of anaesthetic to dispatch the smolts means they remain fit for human consumption.
More equipment
Salmon ova producer Aquagen Scotland Ltd has been granted £308,000 towards the £616,000 cost of a recirculation system at its Holywood facility near Dumfries, and Borders-based processor Farne Salmon and Trout Ltd has been awarded £851,000 towards the £2.84m cost of additional processing equipment.
Scottish Quality Salmon, which promotes Label Rouge Scottish Salmon, was granted half of the £141,000 cost of providing international support for the product.
The Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group, which processes farmed mussels and oysters and wild-caught lobster, scallops, and crab at a state-of-the-art facility in central Scotland, was granted half of the £442,000 cost of a recyclable packaging project, and artisanal business Cape Wrath Oysters was awarded £25,900.
Fisheries Management Scotland, the representative body for the country’s district salmon fishery boards and trusts, was awarded just under £318,000 to meet the full costs of three projects for biosecurity measures to protect Atlantic salmon; improvement to fish counting on the River Ayr; and development of an artificial intelligence tool for counting salmon with sonar equipment.
Separately, River Annan District Salmon Fisheries Board (£78,800, river clean); Stornoway Angling Association (£143,200, fish counter in River Creed); and Esk District Salmon Fishery Board (£230,00, sonar cameras) also received full awards.
Access the full list of awards here.
