Applications have now opened for the fourth year of the Marine Fund Scotland.
Addressing the Fisheries Management Scotland conference this week, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon confirmed that £14m will be made available through the Fund in 2024-25 to help deliver Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision, which sets out plans to transform the way the marine environment is used and how Scotland’s ‘blue’ resources are managed.
The funding is available to a wide range of eligible individuals, businesses, organisations and communities to deliver projects that contribute to an innovative and sustainable marine economy, support coastal communities, and contribute to Scotland’s net zero ambitions.
Last year, a total of 91 projects were awarded funding, with grants ranging from under £1,000 up to £1.6 million. These projects included the modernising of seafood processing facilities to reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency; harbour improvements such as community clean ups and marine litter prevention; improvements to safety training and on-board safety for sea fishers; and marine research and innovation to protect our iconic wild salmon.
Fisheries Management Scotland received funding from the Marine Fund Scotland in 2023-24 of £750,000 to deliver four projects to support the protection of declining wild salmon population. This includes the management of invasive non-native pink salmon in Scotland as well as the purchase of equipment to support monitoring.
I’m Graeme’s Parliamentary Assistant based at Holyrood, but I support his constituency work as well. Having been Caseworker to an Aberdeenshire MP some years prior, joining Graeme's team in 2019 was a return to this line of work from a role in fundraising.