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Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. today announced the award of a further €3,100,055 in grants to 13 seafood enterprises in 7 different counties under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme for the seafood sector.
Minister Creed said, “I am delighted to announce a further €3.1 million in EMFF grants to 13 seafood enterprises. These grant awards are supporting both capital and innovation projects in seafood processing and aquaculture and for the first time we are supporting 4 capital projects specifically aimed at handling and storing fish landed under the CFP landing obligation. These specific projects are the first of their type to be approved under the EMFF Sustainable Fisheries Scheme, which aims to support fishermen, co-operatives and processors to implement the landing obligation”.
The grant awards will support total investment of €6.9 million in 2017. The grants are awarded under 5 EMFF schemes and are co-funded by the Exchequer and EU and subject to terms and conditions.
The Minister continued: “This funding will assist 4 key players in the sector in providing infrastructure for the handling and cold storage of unwanted catches. By having such facilities in place, these parties will have more options for disposing of such unwanted catches, including sale to the high end pet food market, as bait for shellfish fishermen or in the longer term for the production of health care or pharmaceutical products. The projects are innovative in their approach and demonstrate foresight on the part of these businesses in planning ahead to address the challenges of the landing obligation”.
These grant awards contribute to the Action Plan for Rural Development.