Seafood Response Fund closes on Friday 26 March

Eligible UK fishing and aquaculture businesses that haven’t already submitted details for payment from the Seafood Response Fund (SRF) need to do so by Friday, 26 March.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is administering the fund on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra).

Over 2,500 businesses that meet the criteria have been contacted by email or letter. Full guidance and details of the criteria are available here. So far, £9 million has been paid direct into the bank accounts of over 1,200 qualifying businesses

There are still around 1,000 businesses that have yet to reply and are urged to go on-line before the fund closes on by Friday 26 March – they could receive up to £10,000 towards the fixed business costs of their vessel or aquaculture farm.

The fund is designed to help businesses that have been affected by the downturn of export and domestic markets for fish and shellfish due to the coronavirus pandemic and/or disruption to seafood exports earlier this year.

A key element of eligibility is that fishing vessels must have had sales of £10,000 or more, recorded on sales notes supplied by registered buyers and sellers of fish, between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019.

This level of sales was set to ensure the fund supported commercial fishing businesses that records showed would have been impacted by the market downturn. From feedback, we understand that some vessels may have had more sales, but the sales notes had not been submitted at the time. As it is a legal requirement to submit sales notes on time, we cannot accept backdated sales notes as evidence for payment from SRF.

It’s good practice to get the data in on time – this data helps the MMO and government to ensure the sustainability of the fishing industry and stocks for the future.