UK Seafood Fund: Skills and Training Scheme

Overview

There is up to £10 million in funding available through the Skills and Training Scheme.

The scheme will fund projects that improve the quality and range of training available for the catching, processing, aquaculture and recreational angling sectors.

The scheme has been split to provide:

funding for the creation of courses, qualifications and specialist training equipment in round 1
funding for training facilities in round 2

It’s a competitive scheme. To get funding, you must apply for a grant.

Find out about projects that have been successful in the first round of Skills and Training.

UK Seafood Fund

The Skills and Training Scheme is part of the UK Seafood Fund. The UK Seafood Fund is a £100 million fund set up to support the long term future and sustainability of the UK fisheries and seafood sector.

Objectives of the UK Seafood Fund

The fund’s objectives are to:

reform and modernise infrastructure to level up and bring economic growth to coastal communities
ensure the best science, research and technology is used in fisheries management
encourage new entrants to the industry and upskill the existing workforce
enable an environmentally sustainable fishing industry that gives most value for money and reflects the long term needs of the sector
boost UK seafood exports to new and existing markets

Areas of funding

The UK Seafood Fund consists of a number of schemes that come under 4 areas of funding:

science and innovation
infrastructure
skills and training
exports support

Who can apply

To apply, you must be involved in the catching, processing, aquaculture or recreational angling sector.

The following types of organisations can apply for this grant:

public bodies (including trust ports, local authority ports and public charities)
private small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
private non-SMEs
fishermen’s associations
private trusts, foundations or social enterprises
trade associations
officially recognised producer organisations set up by fishery or aquaculture producers
trust ports

You can work with other eligible organisations to make a joint application.

You can apply for this scheme even if you have previously applied for other UK Seafood Fund schemes.

They will only consider applications for training facilities that will be wholly based in the UK.
The scheme is administered by Defra and Seafish. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is supporting the monitoring of round 2. You must not partner with Seafish or the MMO to make an application.

Round 2 projects

Round 2 is funding projects that will improve the quality and accessibility of training facilities for the sector.

We expect to fund projects that:

modernise existing training facilities
equip existing training facilities
create new fixed or mobile facilities

The Skills and Training Scheme is not funding ongoing course delivery.

Round 2 funding

You can apply for:

a minimum of £50,000
a maximum of £3 million

Duplicate funding

They will reject your application if you request funding for a project that is already funded from another source. Defra will work with colleagues in the devolved administrations to make sure there is no duplication of funding.

Match funding

You need to provide match funding for your project. You must include evidence that you’ll provide match funding when you make your application.

Your match funding must be in pounds sterling. You cannot use ‘in-kind contributions’, such as staff time or the use of existing equipment as match funding.

The amount of match funding you need to provide will depend on the type of your organisation. The maximum amount of match funding as a percentage of total project cost is:

75% for public bodies and public charities
50% for private small to medium-sized enterprises
30% for non-private small to medium-sized enterprises
75% for private fishermen’s associations
75% for private producer organisations
50% for private charitable foundations

Your match funding must not be from another grant scheme.

Track grant Notes