A Scottish salmon farm near Skye. Scottish Government ministers want a bigger share of the UK's marine funding budget to match the percentage of the UK seas that the nation has.

Scottish ministers call for bigger share of UK marine funding

Nation has lost out since Brexit, say rural affairs and finance leaders

Gareth Moore editor
Published

Scottish Cabinet ministers Mairi Gougeon and Shona Robison have asked the UK Government for a bigger share of public money allocated for marine funding, which has fallen relative to similar-sized EU countries since Brexit.

In a letter to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, the ministers point out when the UK was a member of the European Union, Scotland received 46% of the total available UK allocation for marine funding. This was due to the size and importance of the Scottish marine sector and its sea area. 

“Since Brexit, Scotland’s marine funding allocation has remained at the 2014 level of £14 million per annum, over the three-year period of the current UK Government Spending Review (2022-25), and this figure has now been used as the basis for future funding,” write Rural Affairs Secretary Gougeon and Finance Secretary Robison.

“By contrast, Denmark – which has a similar population to Scotland but both a smaller sea area and marine sector – will receive an average annual funding settlement of €28.7m (approx. £24m) through the EU’s new European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). This shows how Scotland has not only lost out on this funding through no longer being part of the EU, but also how the UK Government has failed to provide a sufficient replacement.”

UK Seafood Fund

The ministers also want a 46% share of the £100m UK Seafood Fund (UKSF), if that fund is to be continued by the UK’s Labour government. The UKSF was introduced by the Conservative government in 2021 and administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) without the involvement of the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

“We would be grateful for clarity regarding the availability of the UKSF. It is our view that, if the £100m quantum remains available, Scotland should receive 46% of this,” write Gougeon and Robison.

“Overall, we would expect a meaningful increase of marine funding available from the UK Government, which must reflect the importance of the size of our marine sector and sea area, taking into account Scotland’s historical shares of the overall allocation.”

How UKSF has helped Scotland

Although the Scottish Government doesn’t have a say in allocating money from the UK Seafood Fund, Scotland-based companies and projects have benefited from the UKSF’s £23m Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF), which is administered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) on behalf of Defra. Some examples are listed below:

  • In 2023, Stirling-based Pulcea was granted more than £540,000 to find a way of incorporating sound-boosted salmon delousing technology into fish pumps on wellboats, service vessels, or barges.
  • In the same funding round, a team of researchers led by experts in engineering and digital holography from the University of Aberdeen was granted almost £359,000 to progress plans to use holographic 3D imaging, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect the presence of microscopic sea lice larvae in the sea.
  • And a project led by the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute received more than £150,000 to find out if spermidine, a diet supplement already consumed by humans for its anti-ageing benefits, could be used to help salmon digest feed and improve their natural disease resistance.
  • Dundee-based aquaculture technology innovator Ace Aquatec has also been funded by SIF, enabling it to develop new versions of its award-winning in-water fish stunner.

Immense uncertainty

The ministers have also criticised the UK Government’s decision to link baseline agricultural funding to the Barnett formula, which uses a country’s percentage of the UK population to automatically adjust the amounts of public expenditure allocated to devolved administrations.

“The 2022-25 Spending Review allocation to Scotland for agriculture is 17% of the UK allocation, which represents a historical percentage based on 20 year-old agriculture production figures. The 17% fails to recognise the vast potential for nature and climate outcomes from Scotland’s land (which includes 66% of the UK’s total area of peatland, and 46% of woodland),” they write.

They add that the agricultural and marine sectors face immense levels of uncertainty without a multi-year funding settlement and ask for clear commitments for at least the next three years as part of the UK Spending Review.

Meaningful engagement

“While it is right that the Scottish Government has the freedom to make budgetary decisions, a Barnett settlement fails to recognise Scotland’s greater share of UK land and seas. It is evident that this settlement will penalise Scotland’s farming and marine industries.

“As work progresses on the UK Spending Review, which you have indicated will report in the Spring, we are keen to discuss the above with you as soon as possible, and ultimately ask that you reconsider the settlement, through meaningful engagement with the devolved governments.”

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