UK Seafood Fund: Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships scheme

Eligible applicants for the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) scheme are:

• sole traders who own or operate a UK fishing boat
• organisations engaged in commercial or recreational fishing, processing or marine aquaculture in the UK
• research organisations

The FISP scheme is part of the UK Seafood Fund.

The FISP scheme will improve and share knowledge of fisheries and aquaculture by funding data collection and research to support sustainable fisheries management. This will be done through collaboration between the fishing and seafood industry and research organisations.

The FISP scheme and the existing Seafood Innovation Fund share the £24 million of funding allocated to the science and innovation part of the UK Seafood Fund.

To get funding, you must either bid for a contract or apply for a grant.

Research proposal grants

Grants of up to £20,000 are available to develop research proposals (through FISP part A). These are open until 12 noon on Monday 25th April 2022. The purpose of the FISP Part A is to provide grant funding to sole traders and organisations to support the development of a research proposal. This research proposal will be for a collaborative project between the fishing/seafood industry and a research organisation to collect data that improves the knowledge of fisheries and aquaculture and their interaction with the marine environment and other marine species to support sustainable fisheries management.

Research project contracts

Contracts of up to £300,000 are available to carry out a full research project (through FISP part B). This is for the full duration of the project. These are open until 12 noon on Monday 16th May 2022. These are being administered as a government tender, which is divided into three Lots as described below, Tenderers may bid for contracts under more than one of the Lots, as applicable:

Lot 1 Fisheries Data Collection – Will address key knowledge gaps to develop assessment and management approaches, including on biological processes such as growth and maturity, ecological processes such as predator-prey relationships, habitat availability/change, mixed-usage water space and stock definition. Projects on data-limited stocks and species are particularly required.

Lot 2 Mixed Fisheries and Selectivity – Will support developing and evaluating new measures that improve the protection of vulnerable stocks while maintaining viable fisheries. The Fishery Fund can support the development and implementation of a UK catch and discard policy, ensuring it is evidence-based and developed with input from the fishing industry.

Lot 3 Environmental Impacts of Aquaculture – Focuses on two areas: 1) better understanding the ecosystem benefits of aquaculture, 2) how the environmental impacts of existing systems can be minimised.

If you would like help to find a project partner, contact Caroline Griffin, KTM for Aquaculture.