Marine

Marine Fund Scotland helps serve up ‘Seafood in Schools’

November 5, 2024 by Marine Directorate Communications No Comments | Category Marine Fund Scotland

Marine Fund Scotland has awarded over £55m, since 2021, to support projects that contribute to an innovative and sustainable marine economy, support coastal communities, and contribute to Scotland’s net zero ambitions. 

 In 2022 Seafood Scotland identified a gap in the education system for children to learn about the seafood sector. They wanted to raise awareness of the health benefits of eating fish, how sustainable it is as a food group and how fish can provide affordable protein for family meals. 

After applying for and receiving £47,500 of MFS funding they launched an initial Seafood in Schools pilot programme during 2023-2024. This took place across primary and secondary schools with a series of workshops to educate and promote seafood to school age children. 

Each programme was supported by suppliers within the seafood sector – providing products to be used within the workshops and as part of take-home packs for the primary school pupils to encourage them to cook fish at home. 

The first year of the programme saw:  

• Sixteen participating primary schools, reaching over 800 pupils between P4 and P6. 
• Two participating secondary schools, reaching over 500 pupils in S2 
• 100% positive feedback from teachers and head teachers on the workshops 
• Positive engagement from industry supporting programme with product for the workshops.

Donna Fordyce, CEO of Seafood Scotland, said: “Following the successful pilot scheme and delivery of the primary schools programme, Marine Fund Scotland provided funding to support the development and roll out of pilot workshops across secondary schools to help extend the Seafood in Schools initiative.  

“Engaging with school children and their influencers is vital for our sector. They learn how tasty our seafood is, and more about its nutritional value; that it’s versatile and economical to cook, and how vital and varied this sector is in terms of the species you can find around Scotland.  

“This is important on so many levels: not only to ensure young people are eating seafood, but also – at a time when we’re seeing huge skills shortages across the industry – it’s imperative that we educate young people on the career opportunities available to them within the seafood sector. 

“We are grateful to the Scottish seafood sector for supporting this initiative and supplying free products for us to use in schools, helping us to inspire the younger generation. 

“Following these workshops, we have had funding confirmation for this financial year. This will allow us to expand the secondary school workshops into more areas, helping us encourage school leavers to find work in the sector and continue to build on our vital industry.” 

Going Forward 

The second Marine Fund Scotland award of £50,000 will allow Seafood Scotland to build on the success of the workshops and evolve the 2024-2025 programme of activity. The 2024-25 strategy focuses on reaching more pupils by creating tools to help teachers spread the word. By creating an accessible team of experts and useful resources for teachers, the Seafood in Schools programme will have far reaching benefits for the seafood industry. 

Tags: marine fund scotland, seafood in schools

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