The grants were given from Seafish’s International Trade Support Fund (ITSF), ranging from just over £1,000 to £27,000, will be supporting projects all over the globe, from Brazil to Sri Lanka and Australia. The activities supported include businesses attending seafood exhibitions in Tokyo and the Far East, the export of haddock to Canada and promotional material to promote Icelandic fish in fish and chip outlets.
Malcolm Large, Account Manager at Seafish informed that Seafood is traded as a worldwide commodity as demonstrated by the fact that 80 percent of seafood consumed in UK is imported and 60 percent of UK catch is exported. He explained that the fund was given to those successful applicants who met strict sustainability, efficiency and increased revenue criteria. The successful projects range from working with international suppliers to develop management regimes to ensure that imported seafood is responsibly sourced from sustainable stocks to the development of new export markets.
Libby Woodhatch, CEO of Seafood Scotland commented that it is delightful to know that Seafish have been able to part-fund the programme of export projects we will be jointly delivering with Scottish Development International (SDI) for the Scottish seafood sector. Dan Aherne, Managing Director, New England Seafoods, told that it is an expensive business to research and assess feasibility of new products and supply chains.
