Ireland's Seafood Processing Capital Investment Scheme is open for applications until 4 June 2026.
Photo: BIM
Irish seafood businesses and inshore fishers are set to benefit from rounds of grant aid, following the reopening this month of two State-backed funding schemes aimed at supporting investment and conservation.
Timmy Dooley, Ireland's Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has announced that the Seafood Processing Capital Investment Scheme and the Inshore Fisheries Conservation Scheme for v-notching will reopen in the coming weeks.
The processing scheme, which opens on 10 February and closes on 4 June 2026, is designed to support seafood processors investing in areas such as product development, innovation, production efficiency and reduced energy use. According to the minister, the scheme has already allocated more than €6 million in grant aid to projects since its launch in June 2024.
"The scheme is helping to unlock further private investment in innovation, supporting businesses to grow, compete and deliver real economic impact to the seafood economy and our coastal communities,” Dooley said.
The v-notching scheme, which supports the protection of female lobsters to allow them to breed multiple times, reopened on 4 February and will close on 6 March 2026. The measure is intended to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Ireland’s lobster fishery, and wis co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.
Dooley said 240 fishers at 92 locations took part in the scheme last year, receiving €742,000 in grant aid. This led to about 61,000 lobsters, weighing close to 40 tonnes, being returned alive to the sea, which the minister described as the highest number recorded. Based on average annual landings of around 600 tonnes, this represents about 6.5% of total lobster landings and is expected to result in an estimated 450 million additional eggs being spawned.
Both schemes are administered by Ireland's Seafood Development Agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, with applications to be submitted via its online system.
Dooley said the reopening of the schemes demonstrated the Irish Government’s continued commitment to the seafood sector, which he noted is facing challenges including reduced fishing quotas. He said that since mid-2024 more than €21.9 million in grant aid has been awarded to over 1,600 operations in fisheries, aquaculture and processing under the Seafood Development Programme 2021–2027.
