Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of fishermen.

Through our UK Seafood Fund, we are investing up to £10 million to support projects that will develop new courses and improve the quality of current courses to attract new entrants and upskill existing workers. In our first funding round, we awarded just over £1 million with nearly half of the funding allocated to Scotland.

In Shetland, we awarded just over £186,000 to the University of Highlands and Islands that will partner with industry and schools to pilot courses aimed at introducing 13 to 16 year-olds to the seafood sector and seafood careers and help 16 to 18 year-olds transition into the seafood industry. The courses will also made available to new adult entrants.

A second funding round, which will provide further funding to improve the quality and accessibility of training facilities is open until 19 May and I would encourage applications. More details can be found here: UK Seafood Fund: Skills and Training Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)