Fisheries and Seafood Scheme Grant

About this grant

The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) is a Defra grant scheme administered and delivered by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). It is funded from the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, which will invest £304m into fishing and seafood businesses and coastal communities across England. The scheme provides financial assistance to projects in England that would not be possible without government support, and aims to safeguard the long-term sustainability, resilience and prosperity of the seafood sector. The scheme pursues four Defra priorities: creating a sustainable and resilient seafood sector; reducing emissions and waste from the seafood sector; cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas and supporting nature recovery; and boosting regional and economic growth within the seafood sector. Funding is organised into measures covering shore-based facility resilience and sustainability, aquaculture development, value and quality of fisheries products, supply-chain infrastructure, marketing, processing, advisory services, skills and networking, new entrants, cooperative activities, fisher-scientist partnerships, vessel energy efficiency (including engine and gearbox grants), health and safety on board vessels, marine environmental conservation and marine litter, and diversification of income. Grants of up to £750,000 per applicant per annum are available for most measures. Applications with a grant value of £250,000 or more are considered by a competitive funding round panel against priorities covering labour and workforce development, community partnerships, and infrastructure. Applicants must provide match funding, and must be able to pay for the whole project upfront and then claim costs back from the MMO. The scheme excludes statutory requirements, capacity-increasing fishing investments, vessel purchases, land purchases above 10% of project cost, operating costs, and several other categories. An optional expression of interest may be submitted before a full application, and the MMO aims to respond to applications within 12 weeks of a complete submission.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include individuals or businesses directly engaged in commercial sea fishing, aquaculture or processing; organisations or businesses directly engaged in recreational sea fishing or in marine environment conservation, enhancement or restoration; businesses that recycle or upcycle seafood-sector waste or develop technologies improving seafood environmental sustainability; public bodies and local authorities in communities focused on fishing, aquaculture or processing (including trust ports and local authority ports); universities and research institutes; and new entrants or unemployed individuals who could benefit from fishing, aquaculture or processing skills. Projects must be in England and show a clear link and benefit to the fishing and seafood sector in England. Applicants must declare previous government funding and their business size category. Ineligible applicants include those with recent convictions for fraud, IUU fishing or serious violations within 12 months, those providing false information, those with conflicts of interest, and those failing statutory compliance or procurement exclusion rules. The scheme is currently open to applications following an April 2026 update, though historical notices indicate prior closure periods.

How it's scored

Applications are assessed at minimum for value for money, benefits to be delivered, affordability and deliverability. The MMO will decline funding where it judges a project can be afforded without scheme support. Applications of £250,000 or more are reviewed by a funding round panel which recommends projects in line with current round priorities, namely labour and workforce development, community partnerships and infrastructure. Technical viability and legal compliance are the applicant's responsibility. Panel composition is not specified on the page.

Key requirements

• ✓Applicant must operate in UK fisheries or seafood sector
• ✓Specific eligibility criteria and project requirements not detailed in provided description
• ✓Amount and deadline information incomplete — see full listing for details

Funder contact

The notice names a programme contact you can speak to before applying.

Frequently asked questions

How much funding does Marine Management Organisation offer?

Fisheries and Seafood Scheme offers $938K.

Who can apply for Fisheries and Seafood Scheme?

Eligibility covers organisations in GB; sme, large-company, nonprofit, cooperative. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Ocean and blue economy funding covers marine conservation, sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, coastal resilience and ocean technology. Support comes from public research bodies, development finance and ocean-focused foundations. Calls often favour projects that involve coastal communities and that can be monitored at sea.