Seafish, the public body that supports the £10bn UK seafood industry, has released a new online tool to help seafood businesses identify what government financial support schemes they may be eligible for.

Seafish’s new “Government support measures for the UK seafood industry” tool allows seafood businesses to quickly identify what government support they may be eligible to access during the COVID-19 outbreak. By selecting their business type and location, seafood businesses can access information about packages which may be available to them and details of how to apply. The tool – which can be accessed from the Seafish website - covers seafood sector specific packages and those open to businesses more generally from the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Aoife Martin, Director of Operations at Seafish said: “With various support packages for seafood businesses and announcements from each of the home nations in recent weeks, businesses may have found it difficult to keep track of exactly what help they are eligible for.

“We have collated the relevant information into our financial support measures tool to provide businesses throughout the seafood supply chain with a quick and easy way to identify the government support that can help them through this challenging time.

“We also provided economic data and analysis to the governments to allow them to develop support packages tailored for the seafood industry. We’re also supporting industry with similar queries and continue to respond to all of these requests.”

The coronavirus section of their website also contains a list of other sources of advice and support for individuals and businesses in seafood, as well as updates on the work that Seafish is doing to support the sector through the current situation.