The new education and research foundation is to be known as the Scottish Salmon Education and Research Foundation (SSERF).
The key objectives for the new charity will be to:
- Bring a new focus to education and training for people working at every stage in the production and sale of farmed salmon, and help provide funding to establish clear career paths throughout the industry;
- Benefit community projects in Scotland’s salmon farming heartlands - mainly rural communities across the Highlands and Islands, and;
- Enhance environmental performance on salmon farms and help research and develop new production methods which will keep Scottish salmon farming at the forefront of the latest environmentally-responsible practices.
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| Sid Patten, SSPO says the new initiative reflects the salmon industry's mature status. |
The Chief Executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO), Sid Patten, said that this is a sign of the growing maturity of Scotland's salmon industry.
"Members also place importance on the contribution their companies make to the rural economy and Scotland plc, which have led to their decision to create the foundation,” he added.
The Foundation intends to appoint directors from business and higher education to join those from the industry itself to consider applications for assistance. It is hoped that with match funding from other supporting bodies that it will distribute more than £250,000 in 2008.
The initiative has been warmly welcomed by the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Working Group on Aquaculture which brings together a wide range of groups, including the wild salmon organisations, with a collective interest in the future of Scotland’s fish farming industry.