In the latest funding awards from the UK Seafood Innovation Fund £6.2 million is to be shared between 22 projects.
The UK Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF), part of the Government’s wider UK Seafood Fund and administered by Cefas, has funded 22 new Research and Development (R&D) projects which apply novel, scalable ideas to enhance the UK seafood sector’s productivity and sustainability. 12 of the new R&D projects have been awarded further SIF funding after applying to a closed call, having previously completed successful Call 3 feasibility studies. The ten remaining projects were selected from applicants to SIF’s open Call 4.
‘There was a high level of interest in the Call 4 funding round, and the SIF Steering Group was pleased with the bids that were received, in terms of their quality and breadth of technological innovation covered,’ said Aoife Martin, Director of Operations at Seafish.
‘We expect the successful projects to actively contribute to addressing many of the challenges facing the sector – from improving the management of discards at sea via the Smartrawl project, to more rapid biotoxin monitoring in shellfish aquaculture, to using wave energy to power aquaculture businesses. Collectively these projects should help to enhance the seafood sector’s business efficiency, reputation, and environmental sustainability.’
Designed to boost the resilience and sustainability of the UK seafood sector through a diverse portfolio of innovative ideas, SIF has now provided over £17 million to 116 projects across fisheries, aquaculture, processing, and the supply chain.
The latest cohort of innovations to be funded by SIF boasts 11 projects for aquaculture, four for fisheries, another four for the supply chain and processing, and three for seaweed production. They include an imaging and artificial intelligence system to reduce discards and bycatch during fishing, a label that turns bumpy when packaged seafood has spoiled, and an on-land cultivation system for seaweed. Both the closed Call 3 and the open Call 4 offered uncapped funding, with awards granted to each project ranging from £25,000 to £603,000. The projects will commence by May this year and will take 12 to 18 months.
‘We were extremely impressed by the calibre of applications received via the open Call 4 funding round,’ said Fiona Lettice, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of East Anglia and Chair of the SIF Steering Group.
‘We were also delighted to fund 12 additional projects as part of the closed Call 3 following their successful feasibility phases, demonstrating the strength of their ideas. There are opportunities to innovate in every part of the sector, from boat or farm to people’s plates, and we expect SIF to help make this a reality through the projects it has chosen to fund.’
SIF supports both early-stage feasibility studies and large-scale research and development (R&D) projects. One project that was funded in its feasibility stage and has now progressed to R&D is led by Underwater Contracting Limited (UCO), who are developing a Remote Operated Vehicle system for harvesting shellfish as an alternative to dredging.
‘The support from SIF has been vital to progressing our innovative concept; without funding from SIF, this project would likely have stayed on the drawing board. We are extremely pleased to have passed the rigorous SIF review process to gain further support through the Call 3 R&D grant award. This will allow us to advance our technology with significant potential for scaling up, offering a safe and sustainable way to recover shellfish by using remotely operated technology, which we believe to be an industry first in the UK,’ said Richard Smith, R&D Manager for UCO.
Another project is Sea Mist, which is being delivered by the Cornish Seaweed Company and aims to develop a groundbreaking system for farming seaweed on land instead of at sea.
‘The support from SIF allowed us to test an innovative seaweed cultivation method to produce a resource-efficient, low-emission food, while delivering a healthy and sustainable diet,’ commented Tim van Berkel, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Cornish Seaweed Company.
‘Provided the R&D phase is successful, we believe we will be able to cultivate high-value, edible seaweeds almost anywhere.’
