Fisheries and Seafood Scheme Funding Rounds

Fisheries and Seafood Scheme Funding Rounds

The FaSS will include a number of competitive funding rounds for larger value projects with a grant value of over £250,000.

Projects will be considered in one of three main categories:

• Labour and Workforce Development
• Community Partnerships
• Infrastructure

The competitive rounds will aim to support labour and workforce development in the industry, encourage community partnerships and local regeneration, and develop infrastructure that benefits multiple users.

These projects will be considered by the funding round panel, which reviews and recommends projects in line with the funding round priorities. Further guidance on which measures are eligible to apply to the funding rounds can be found below.

Funding Round Dates

During year 1 the funding round panel will meet 3 times. Applicants are required to submit applications that meet funding round criteria by the submission deadline below. An 8-12 week appraisal period will then follow ending with a panel meeting during which a decision will be made.

Funding Round Submission Date 1:	1 May 2026
Funding Round Submission Date 2:	12 June 2026
Funding Round Submission Date 3:	5 September 2026

Dates for 2027 will be published in due course.

It is essential that applications for funding round projects are submitted with all required information and supporting documents. Incomplete applications may not be considered in the current funding round. If you can provide the missing information, your application may be taken forward for assessment in the next round.

Details on how to apply can be found below and on the FaSS main page.

Funding Round Measures

Applications to the funding rounds can only be made for projects which link to one of the following measures. If you are unsure which measure is appropriate for your project, please seek advice from the MMO Grants Team.

Applications  for projects onboard vessels are welcome to apply for grants below £250,000 only. Please see the guidance page if your project relates to a project onboard a vessel.

Labour and Workforce Development	M19 - Promoting skills, knowledge, and networking M20 - Promoting skills, knowledge, and networking for aquaculture M22 - Supporting new entrants into the industry
Community Partnerships	M17 - Providing advisory services M25 - Supporting co-operative activities M28 - Improving infrastructure across the supply chain M31 - Supporting partnerships between fishers and scientists M33 - Marketing measures
Infrastructure	M3 - Sustainable aquaculture development M16 - Improving the value and quality of fisheries products M28 - Improving infrastructure across the supply chain M33 - Marketing measures M34 - Processing of fisheries products

Making an application

Applications for projects which meet the funding round criteria are made in the same way as any other application for FaSS funding. Please refer to the FaSS main page for further details

As detailed in the General Guidance, each Funding Round application must be accompanied by a business case.  The business case has more specific information on what will be considered during the assessment process and by the panel.

When completing your business case, you must explain the benefits your project will deliver. These could be social or cultural (such as improving quality of life, wellbeing, job satisfaction or supporting local community solutions), economic (such as better employment opportunities, improved recruitment and retention, or stronger trade and market access), or environmental (such as improved fish stocks, selectivity, marine conditions or reduced energy use). Your project should deliver at least one of these benefits.

Please describe each benefit as clearly as possible. If you can measure or quantify the benefit, please include the figures. If not, give a clear description of what you expect to happen and explain how the benefit will be achieved. For each benefit area, set out what you expect to happen if funding is not received, and what you expect to happen if funding is received.

You must also describe the scale of the benefits. Benefits may apply to a single business or organisation, to a local community, to several communities or regions, or at a national scale where society more widely may see improvements. If your benefits are at local, regional or national level, please say which groups, organisations or communities will be affected.

You should select the most relevant result indicators for the measure you are applying under (as set out in the main guidance) and explain how your project contributes to them. Where you can, give figures; where you cannot, describe the benefit clearly.

Finally, please explain how many organisations or businesses will benefit from the project, how they will benefit, and how long those benefits are expected to last.

Please contact the MMO Grants Team for the appropriate template.

After you apply 

We will contact you to confirm we have received your application and notify you if any further information is required. Please note we will only receipt successful applications after the funding round panel has made its decision. 

Please refer to the FaSS main page for further details

Contact us

Write to:

Telephone: 0208 026 5539

Email: FaSS.queries@marinemanagement.org.uk