Funding Secured For Seafood Market Development

11th September 2006

ENTERPRISE funding has been secured to enable a range of Seafood Scotland (SFS) market development services to continue to be delivered to the Highlands and Islands seafood sector.

The �57,000 financial package from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will provide funding towards the costs incurred by SFS in the Highlands and Islands over the next two years and builds on the success of a previous package of assistance.

SFS market development executive, Anne Mosley, based near Inverness will lead SFS activity in the Highlands and Islands which will include:

* keeping members of the seafood industry informed and up-to-date with activities and initiatives;

* developing, marketing and promoting Scottish seafood products in the UK and overseas;

* encouraging greater supply chain efficiencies between catchers and processors; and

* providing expert strategic business development assistance and advice on external funding to seafood businesses.

Anne Mosley says: "We will be building on previous activity which included working with major supermarkets to source seafood from Scottish suppliers, and delivering a range of sector specific workshops in places like Inverness and Portree and the Western Isles."

HIE has provided funding for this project as the seafood industry makes a major contribution to the economic viability of many of the most remote communities in the Highlands and Islands. In recent years the inshore shellfish fleet has sustained its level of
activity with positive developments in overseas markets, local sustainability badging of fisheries and a shift by operators towards quality rather than volume.

Iain Sutherland, senior development manger with HIE said: "With many firms either too busy or lacking the necessary know-how to explore the initial ideas they may have to develop their businesses, Seafood Scotland can now provide them with the right information and guidance on how to exploit new markets and develop new products through people like Anne."