Northern Ireland’s fishing industry is one step closer to a funding boost worth more than £100 million to help grow and diversify.
Fisheries minster Edwin Poots said he has secured a “significant amount of money” to carry out analysis of development proposals which have been put forward for the three main fishing ports, which include adapting them for larger vessels.
The proposals include £73million to create a new harbour at Kilkeel which would also see it become what the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Affair (DAERA) called an Irish Sea Marine Hub – a centre of economic and marine activity for things such as aquaculture, leisure boating and boat repair and decommissioning.
Kilkeel would also have a deeper approach channel to allow larger vessels to land, while a further £20 million would be spent on deepening the approach channel at Ardglass.
Meanwhile, a £5million proposal for Portavogie would including developing the existing harbour and abandoned buildings in the port.
The funding follows analysis carried out last year by the Fishing and Seafood Development Programme (FSDP), which was established by the DAERA to conduct a strategic review of the opportunities for developing the sea fishing and seafood sectors in Northern Ireland, including the potential role of new public investment in infrastructure.
Mr Poots said the aim of the investment is to fund the right infrastructure to create a fishing industry fit for the 21 st century.
“Our fishing and seafood industry must be fit for the 21st Century and be prosperous and sustainable,” he said. “It must be in a position to take advantage of new fishing opportunities and contribute to green growth.
“To remain competitive replacement fishing vessels need to be more efficient, safer and comfortable places to work. They will need to adapt to net zero carbon targets, reduce emissions and be able to use fishing gears with less environmental impacts.
“This is likely to mean larger, deeper or wider vessels, and this means investment in the infrastructure to support this new generation of fishing vessels.”
At present there are around 140 fishing vessels over 10 metres in Northern Ireland landing langoustines, whitefish and scallops, 200 inshore vessels fishing crab and lobster and three large vessels over 50 metres fishing for mackerel, herring and other species.
They supply Northern Ireland’s seafood processing sector and together create annual turnover of £135 million and support 1,550 full time equivalent jobs.
Mr Poots said full analysis of the proposals will be needed before final funding can be secured.
"“These projects are complicated and take time and there is some way to go before we can take final decisions to build new harbours. However, this is an important first step and we look forward to working closely with the Harbour Authority, the fishing industry and others to further develop the proposals to a stage where we can secure necessary approvals and finance to transform our fishery harbours,”
